Back in high school, I went through some of the darkest phases of my life. I used art and writing as a way to escape the real world. I would stay up late in my room drawing, painting, and writing poems to express a side of my soul that felt unheard.

“REmeMBER,” or rather “Remember Me,” resulted from one of those late nights – a message meant to be left behind to those I loved. At the time, I was ready to go, and in my mind, I had nothing. . . no purpose. . . just sadness and grief for any bit of happiness or hope that I once had. I was reckless, and I didn’t care about anything or anyone.

Eventually, certain events took place that left me reevaluating my perspective on life. During that time of reflection, I met the one who would change my life forever and gave me a reason to keep on – my now husband, known as EpicFailsauce on Twitch (aka ARandomScrub).

This doesn’t mean I haven’t continued to struggle, and while I am still healing from my past, the message “REmeMBER” has evolved in its meaning for me. Now the “me” within “REmeMBER” represents how I view myself – a single individual with a small reach, while the remainder of the word, in all caps, represents the impact I hope to leave behind.

Twitch has enabled me to start doing that. I have found joy in making others smile and laugh. I’ve always imagined and strived for a space that created the “everyone-is-over-at-my-house-and-we’re-sitting-on-the-couch-playing-a-video-game” vibe. I hope to continue to provide a space where people feel they can have a good time and escape the real world for at least a little while.

Net income from the REmeMBER Collection will be donated to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For more information on this organization, please visit https://988lifeline.org/.

Thank you to everyone who will read my story. Thank you to all those who have been so kind and supportive of me every step of the way – not only with Twitch, but with life.

And most importantly, thank you for being YOU and for being here.