event held Saturday, Sept. 19, outside the historic Val Verde County Courthouse. The event
culminated with a walk on the sidewalk around the courthouse. Walkers were encouraged to take
988 steps, the 988 representing the national suicide and crisis lifeline, which provides support to
persons in crisis 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Several hundred Del Rioans gathered in the warm summer twilight outside the Val Verde County Courthouse for the first “Shine A Light” walk for suicide prevention and awareness Saturday, Sept. 19.
Carmen Abreu, West Texas Counseling and Guidance community development and outreach officer and one of the organizers of the event, welcomed those attending.
“Tonight we gather as a community of resilience, compassion and hope, whether you are here for yourself, someone you love and miss
the county courthouse on Saturday, Sept. 9, were members of the Calvetti family, including, from left, Oliver, 10; Debbie Calvetti and Naila Calvetti. The two women prepared a luminaria with
the photo and name of a loved one who died from suicide, a man who was brother to one of them
and brother-in-law to the other. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
dearly or to support the community, your presence matters,” Abreu said.
“Tonight we remember those we have lost. We stand beside those who are hurting, and we remind one another that no one has to carry their burden alone. As we shine a light this evening, may we replace silence with understanding, stigma with compassion and isolation with connection. Tonight we remember, tonight we honor, and tonight we choose hope,” Abreu said.
Abreu invited the Laughlin Air Force Base Honor Guard to post the colors as Theresa S. Del Rio offered a powerful, pitch-perfect a cappella rendition of the national anthem.
Pastor Wayne Richardson offered the invocation and also welcomed those attending, recognizing local leadership “standing shoulder-to-shoulder with us tonight, breaking the stigma and supporting survivors.”
Richardson thanked County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. and members of Val Verde County Commissioners Court for their proclamation supporting local suicide prevention and awareness, then invited Mayor Al Arreola to read the mayor’s proclamation designating September 2026 as “Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month.”
Arreola was joined by his wife, Myrella Arreola, in presenting the proclamation to Richardson and Abreu. Del Rio City Councilwoman Carmen Gutierrez joined the mayor and his wife in the later walk around the courthouse.
Richardson thanked the mayor for attending the event, saying, “Your presence here carries immense weight. When leaders step up to shine a light on mental health, it signals to our entire community that suicide prevention is a priority, that healing is possible, and no one has to struggle in silence.”
Richardson next invited two members of the community to read letters they had written about loved ones they had lost to suicide.
Ariana Calvetti read a poem about her father, Aldo Calvetti, and shared words recalling her love for him and his legacy.
event held Saturday, Sept. 19, outside the historic Val Verde County Courthouse. The event
culminated with a walk on the sidewalk around the courthouse. Walkers were encouraged to take
988 steps, the 988 representing the national suicide and crisis lifeline, which provides support to
persons in crisis 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
Celso Barrientos, who works for West Texas Counseling and Guidance, shared stories about friends and fellow veterans who died by suicide and recalled the unanswerable questions they left behind.
“We can make sure the person standing next to us knows they don’t have to fight their battles alone. If you’re struggling right now, I want you to hear this . . . Your life matters to people,” Barrientos said.
Richardson told those attending the event, “We’re going to light our candles together, to create a quiet sanctuary in the dark, a space to honor the precious lives we have lost and to hold space for the aching hearts that are left behind, to shine a light into the dark corners of the human experience. Each flame burning will represent an enduring promise that no matter how deep the shadow, no one ever has to ever walk through darkness alone.”
He said before someone begins showing outward signs they are considering suicide, they think about it inside, “a heaviness that becomes impossible to carry.”
“It sounds like distinct voices, shame, a belief that you have messed up your life so badly that you are no longer worthy of acceptance or carrying crushing guilt for things completely out of your control. There’s hopelessness, the conviction that things are terrible right now and an ongoing belief that they will never, ever get better. Helplessness, the feeling that you have zero control over your own life and circumstances or your own pain, and despair, a complete loss of hope and the feeling of being utterly trapped,” Richardson said.
Richardson said those attending the ceremony and carrying the lights could stand “as a living refusal to let those voices have the final say.”
Richardson said, “There is hope. There is hope. And we stand tonight to make a shared resolve to be a light in someone’s life, to shine a light into their darkness and being that light doesn’t require perfect words, it simply requires us to act – acknowledge, care and tell.
“To acknowledge is to acknowledge that yes, there is sadness, and there is pain, and there is grief. To care – turn to your neighbor and tell them you care – and to share that within our families, within our friend circles and within our community, that we do truly care. And tell, to tell of all the resources that are available to help someone in their time of need,” Richardson said.
He asked everyone to look at the “988” sign at the front of the audience and reminded everyone that 988 is the national help line people in crisis can call.
presented a proclamation designating September as “Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month”
in the city to Pastor Wayne Richardsom, second from right, and Carmen Abreu, representing
West Texas Counseling and Guidance, right, at the first “Shine A Light” suicide prevention and
awareness event on Saturday, Sept. 9. (Photo by Karen Gleason)
Richardson said the goal of the evening was to take 988 steps around the courthouse, then asked everyone to light their candles — small, battery-powered plastic votives.
“May the lighting of these candles remind us of the promise to one another tonight and every day that follows to listen deeper, love stronger and ensure that no one ever has to face the darkness alone,” Richardson said.
The ceremony ended with the reading of a list of names of people who lost their lives to suicide.
Following the reading, those attending the ceremony began their slow procession around the historic courthouse grounds.
Abreu reflected on the ceremony and her hope the event would be the touchstone of a community ready and able to extend love and care to its suffering members.
“I’ve worked in different communities and seen some different suicide awareness walks, so (doing something like) this has been in my heart for a while. I talked to leadership and different groups in town who wanted to collaborate, and it’s really beautiful to see it coming together,” Abreu said.
“I’ve lost many friends to suicide, family members. My mom openly shares her struggle and story of, at one point, wanting to end her life, and so it means a lot to me, and I know it means a lot to a lot of people. It’s been an honor to organize this event, and it’s been so beautiful seeing everyone come together.
“There is real healing as we’re standing with one another. Nobody is walking alone. We’re all in this together. The community is all together, city, council, people from different walks of life, all ages,” Abreu said, adding she hopes the walk will become a yearly event.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
