We are in the club, the club we never wanted to be a part of.  Our son, Mitchell Lasley was an enlisted Marine, he died by suicide 7/5/2020 at the age of 17.  To know him was to love him.  He was wide open, full of life and occasionally inappropriate which often led to laughs among his buddies or Kennedy and a reprimand from Neil and I.  We didn’t even know he had a sad bone in his body and were completely caught off guard.  Unsure of how to move forward, we felt a strong desire to ensure others didn’t have to experience tragedy like our family had.  Being an avid biker on the road or the trails, Neil channeled his energies to supporting Stop Soldier Suicide through their 250 mile biking facebook fundraising challenge.  Mitch and Neil biked together on the trails and Mitch also loved being on his bmx bike with his buddies.  It is almost unimaginable that this summer will be 5 years without him being physically part of our everyday lives.  With Neil’s success with the facebook challenge, in memory of Mitch, we are partnering with Stop Soldier Suicide and organizing our own ride at Oak Island.  We have opted to do this September 20, 2025.  Hopefully, it will be cooler temps and September is suicide awareness month.  We would love for you to join us, however far you are comfortable riding, on a road bike, mountain bike, ebike or beach bike.  Come on out and Ride the Tide.

Our family and friends have been everything to us, as they always were, but especially these last five years.  A huge thank you for the love and support.  And the kids, now adults, but will always be the kids to us…we love you.  Thanks for continuing to check in, share the little things that make you think of Mitch, and hanging out with us just because. 

ABOUT THE RIDE

For the first annual Ride the Tide event, you are invited to register through the event link here. If you are unable to attend, would like to make a donation or sponsor the event, you can find more information below. A portion of revenue from the ride registrations will be donated to Stop Soldier Suicide, however all additional donations through this site will go towards their mission.

Stop Soldier Suicide is the only national nonprofit focused solely on solving the issue of suicide amongst veterans and service members - providing confidential mental health and wellness services to those at. higher risk. These services are free to all veterans and service members, regardless of branch, discharge status or era served. No one who has served our country should face life's problems alone.