Nicki Genoni, Audrey Fleming, Talle Genoni, Raelyn Genoni and Avari Fleming. PHOTO BY MARY SCHENKEL

Country Western music often features sad songs about lost love, but at the recent MHA Rocks Nashville bash held at the Oak Harbor Club, the message was one of hope and love and resilience.

Arriving in their finest cowboy boots and Stetsons, some friendly posse groups headed to the bar for a cold one and to shoot the breeze in the lounge, while others moseyed over to the dance floor and two-stepped to the beat of the Country Juke Box Band. And before long, it was time for folks to fill up their plates and chow down on true cowboy grub.

Phil Cromer, Ph.D., Mental Health Association CEO, welcomed the crowd and thanked everyone for their support, commenting that the MHA is able to provide help to those in need thanks to their generosity.

“We provided over 1,000 psychological services last year, more than ever before,” said Cromer.

“Yet our number of severe cases has gone down, so what we are doing is working. If you get people early and often we can transform and heal our community. That’s why we opened the Parent and Child Center last year. It’s a place where we have no boundaries to mental health for children, their families, and their loved ones. We are making a difference in Indian River County.”

The crowd was brought to tears during a heartfelt message by MHA board member Nicki Genoni, who lost her son Tyler Heiserman to suicide four years ago.

“Tonight is about hope, healing and the power of community, because none of us are meant to navigate life’s challenges alone,” she said.

“There are no words to describe the depth of our loss, the heartbreak, or the unanswered questions. Grief is like the ocean; unpredictable and relentless. Some days the waves are gentle. Other days they crash over us when we least expect it.”

She shared a beautiful passage about sea glass, relating how a broken, jagged piece of glass discarded into the ocean, can be smoothed and shaped by waves before it returns to the shore as something unique and beautiful.

“For many, the weight of life’s challenges are too strong to withstand, but like sea glass we are not meant to be broken,” she continued.

“We are meant to be shaped, strengthened and carried forward. None of us can do that alone.

That’s why we are here tonight; to raise awareness and remind each other that it’s OK not to be OK. Hope is real and healing is possible. Organizations like the MHA are steady hands ready to catch those that fall and those that feel lost in the tides and soften their edges. Like sea glass we are shaped by life’s tides, smoothed but not broken,” said Genoni.

“May we be the hand that lifts each other up, the voice that reminds everybody that we are valued and a community that helps each other heal,” she added.

Genoni invited everyone to take home a piece of sea glass from her collection as a reminder that time and resilience can turn even the sharpest edges into something beautiful.

Touched by her words, guests embraced one another in a circle of love, acknowledging that everyone has their own struggles and can use a little support.

Photos by Mary Schenkel