JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — You might be wondering Friday night why the Acosta Bridge is glowing purple.
It’s for P.S. I Love You Day – a day that encourages conversations about mental health and suicide.
A Duval County teenager had the idea and convinced the Jacksonville Transportation Authority to change the bridge’s color for the night.
Aidan Rupp, 17, knows what it’s like to lose a loved one to suicide. He’s dedicated to educating people about mental health and thought: what bigger platform to use than a bridge that will get people talking about why it’s purple?
Rupp lost his aunt, who died by suicide, about a year and a half ago. That made P.S. I Love You Day personal for Rupp and his family. He said he didn’t realize how the issue affects families until his own went through it.
“We’d always known about it and been supportive of it,” Rupp said. “But it wasn’t until we directly lost somebody to suicide that we were able to firsthand feel the impact of what it’s like to lose somebody that’s lost the battle to their own mental health.”
A junior at the Episcopal School of Jacksonville, Rupp convinced his classmates to join in. On Friday, students and teachers decorated the entire campus with purple, and kids switched out uniforms for purple shirts.
“The color purple is widespread, and naturally with that, people are going to be curious as to what that means and hopefully once they educate themselves they’re able to see that any time they want to have this conversation, there are people that are willing to listen because it’s something that everybody goes through, whether or not they talk about it.”
Rupp said he hopes this goes further than his own school.
“Other than hopefully reducing the stigma around mental health and inspiring people to start conversations,” Rupp began, “we’re hoping that people in the workplace, people at other schools are going to start conversations in their schools because at the end of the day, we’re all in this together. We’re all just human.”
When the bridge turns purple at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Rupp will be there with family and friends to remember loved ones lost.