This year marks the 75th anniversary of Mental Health Awareness Month.

Though topics surrounding mental health like depression and suicide are still often difficult to discuss.

But it is a conversation that can save a life.

And one Washington County mother has been starting those conversations all across Kentucky since losing her only daughter to suicide in 2019.

I was pretty excited to have a little girl.

She had blond, curly hair.

He had a big smile.

Tyler was really outgoing.

She really liked people.

She loved everybody.

She smiled at everyone and she made them feel valuable.

And so, you know that that's a big deal as a momma, to know that your child is kind to people.

Tyler Schlosser says her only daughter, Taylor Ray, had a smile that could light up a room.

She says there was little indication her child was struggling behind that smile.

Yeah, she had some anxiety, but it wasn't anything that I went to bed at night worrying about.

She did see a therapist for those kinds of things.

If just because I wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing anything.

And the therapist wasn't alarmed with anything that she was dealing with, it was like, This is typical.

After graduating high school, Taylor attended the University of Kentucky, where she was majoring in communications.

She joined a sorority, served on student government, and got an internship that turned into a job with iHeart Radio.

It seemed like she had everything going for her.

I would say if they were looking at Taylor's life, they would probably say, Picture perfect, that all-American girl, beautiful smile, outgoing.

And I think that's what makes it so hard.

We look one way on the outside, but something on the inside is just it's not healthy.

And it steals our loved ones from us.

In January of 2019, the day before the University of Kentucky sophomore was to start classes, she texted her mom.

The very last thing that she said to me was, I love you, 6:00.

And I said, I love you, too, baby.

She didn't text anybody else that I know of.

And and that was it.

I love you, too, baby.

To realize she would never hear those words from her daughter again after the coroner showed up at her house hours after she received Taylor's text.

And I just said, No, you're wrong.

Wrong, Taylor.

My Taylor is starting school tomorrow.

You got this wrong.

It's the wrong Taylor.

I just talked to her.

She just got a promotion.

She starts school tomorrow.

She just moved in the bio, and I just said, You know, I don't believe you.

Her husband picked up their two all two sons who are both in college and brought them to the house.

They woke up their youngest son and told him his sister was gone.

And then here we said in this ho And then it started, you know, why did this happen?

Is it my fault?

I mean, when you lose somebody to suicide, that's what you think.

It was the problem that I missed something, you know?

What keeps you up at night?

You know, the worst times for me was when I went to bed.

So awful.

But obviously, I had three other boys I knew I had to get out of bed for.

But I buried her on Saturday, and my husband took me to see a therapist Monday morning.

Immediately.

When you lose a child to me, you've got two options.

You're either just going to be non-existent and not existing in this world, or you've got to exist.

What's Laura's new reality?

Not having her daughter physically present in her life.

Taylor's spirit inspired what's become her life's mission.

Ray of Sunshine, a nonprofit, the family established in Taylor's honor.

The foundation is focused on eliminating the stigma associated with suicide and mental health.

We didn't want her life to be defined by one moment because she had so many beautiful moments along the way.

And we didn't want what happened to us to happen to anybody else.

I just wanted people to understand that she was this beautiful young lady, like people that lose their life to suicide, just like someone could lose their life to another heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes.

And so we just decided that we're going to take something in her honor and we're going to try to do something with that.

The foundation also looks to increase access to resources that support mental health.

One of the ways it is doing that is through scholarships.

To date, the foundation has awarded $50,000 in scholarships to future mental health professionals.

And then we wanted to spread positivity and kindness.

The foundation was established five years ago, and to Laura estimates she has spoken to more than 75,000 people throughout the state, and she has learned it's okay if she doesn't have the answer to the question.

She often here's what will lead someone to take their own life.

I've learned that, you know, there's not one reason.

There's a lot of things that that go into when people make this decision.

But I understand if I'm the mommy, the player, the brother, the sister, you want to pinpoint it to one thing and then you want to eliminate that one thing.

If I eliminate this issue, then I'll never have to deal with what I deal with every day.

Right.

There's never going to be a day that we don't miss her.

There's never a day that I don't think, What did I miss?

And if we can talk about Taylor story and people understand that it's just more than just one thing.

It's a lot of things.

And then hopefully our, you know, foundation is making a difference.

My world will never be the same.

But the rest of the world can be different.

Our thanks to Echo Gammel for that story.

Ray of Sun Shines mission has spread to schools and colleges through smile clubs.

For more information, go to Ray of Sunshine dot oh RG.

And if you or someone you know is struggling with mental health issues, call or text.

The number 988.

That's the suicide and crisis lifeline any time to speak with a crisis counselor.

It is free and confidential.