In honour of Tracey Lynn Barfield who passed away Friday January 10, 2014 at 8 pm EST in South Carolina, For those family and friends who may be unaware, I founded a public page regarding Living with Bipolar Disorder in April of 2012. In June of that same year, Tracey Lynn joined me in helping manage a closed group where people could come and discuss their experiences whether they had the disorder themselves, or lived with, or knew someone who did privately. There were countless occasions where we literally talked people off of that ledge, understanding their struggle and flatly refused to leave anyone dangling when they were in crisis, often to the detriment of our own health.  We understood that pain, that shame and that guilt. We with bipolar disorder understood the stigma related to mental illness, the fear, the loneliness, the loss of one`s identity. We bled for them, ached for them, reached out to them and are eternally grateful for those who grasped our hands, followed that light and came out of the darkness and accepted our support and our experiences.  And so they come and continue to come from the four corners of the globe daily.

The page started slowly and then it gradually began to grow, as others began to faithfully follow us on the public page (over 2,600 fans in August of 2013; today January 11, 2014 it has grown to over 3,300 followers and we have reached over 16, 000 persons this last week since her death) Our private group (398 members in August of 2013 is now as of January 11, 2014, there are 808 members). Tracey Lynn Barfield and my vision for this project has given meaning to our pain and immeasurable value to our lives, as we are aware of the many souls whose lives have been touched, altered, and inspired by our efforts and the many persons who touched us so profoundly too. Tracey’s developing posts with our logo, her hours of research posting articles on the public page and especially her interacting with our fans and members of our closed group brought such strength, inspiration, hope, encouragement and especially unconditional love and acceptance to countless persons. I am eternally grateful for the privilege of having known, loved and befriended her. All who knew her were blessed that she had crossed paths with them.

It staggers the imagination to know that we, ordinary women who once dreamed of travelling the globe, but could not find the means, through these pages, have travelled to countries and taken up residence in the hearts, minds, and homes of thousands of persons we have never met. These countries include: U.S.A ( the number one country with the most fans), U.K. Australia, Canada, India, Philippines, Pakistan, South Africa, Brazil, Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Tunisia, Indonesia, Thailand, Ireland, Netherlands, Malaysia, Sweden, Scotland, Wales, New Zealand, Romania, Germany, Puerto Rico, Singapore, France, Italy, Portugal, Mexico, Kenya, Japan, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Israel, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Greece, Luxembourg, Norway, Tanzania, Costa Rica, Jordan and Syria.

 It had humbled us to know that our voices are heard, our light is shone, our strength is gathered, our hope inspired, our faith, our experiences, our humanity is shared; as is an unconditional love and respect for all as human beings, with no discrimination. All persons are welcome living with this disorder. I cannot put into words the loss of Tracey means to me personally as I am still reeling from the shock of her sudden death. But I wanted her family to know at least a portion of the lives she has touched and that she was an angel to many long before her death. God has now made it official and brought her home to paradise. The comments regarding the news of her death are coming in regularly in our group and she is dearly loved and surely missed.

I have some major decisions to make regarding the group and public page and unsure as to how to continue without her. We had been unable to talk personally for some time. I miss the conversations on the phone, the sound of her voice, her southern drawl, her sense of humour, her warmth, her intelligence, her unabashed honesty. She would not want me to close the group too many people are dependent on it. Please pray for me too. But want I want to point out on this blog was her incredible writing skills and her work as an educator. We shared a passion for literature, a deep and abiding faith in God, a love for our mental health advocacy to educate and eradicate the stigma attached to mental illness and the interactions with the many persons we have met and come to know and love through our endeavours. I will commit myself to sharing more of the writings she shared with us this last year in group and our public page. 

  Lynn-Marie Ramjass