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For years I have played a balancing act between being a full-time teacher and what has often felt like a full-time advocate. So when I retired in June, I saw lots of free time in my future. I didn't have dreams of cruising the Caribbean or having leisurely lunches with "the girls," but I did think that I could probably add another NAMI activity or two to my life.

Now those of you who know me know that I already had plenty on my plate. Our Breaking the Silence (BTS) lesson plan project is moving ahead full steam. We just got another grant, this one from the Kellogg Foundation, and continue to get inquiries from all over the country and beyond. I am also Co-President of NAMI Queens/Nassau and a recently elected NAMI-NYS board member.

So why did I want to become walk coordinator of the first NAMI Walks for the Mind of America in New York State? Good question! If I were to sum it up in one phrase it would be that I believe fervently in mainstreaming our cause. There are time-tested ways that health-related causes have used to get their message out and show their strength, and walkathons belong at the top of that list. This past June, 40,000 walkers descended on Jones Beach to get the word out about breast cancer. And in October, 11,000 walkers came out in full force for autism. Only in its fifth year, the Walk Far for NAAR (National Alliance for Autism Research) raised an astonishing $1.5 million.

On Sunday, May 15th it will be our time to strut our stuff on the boardwalk at Jones Beach. We may not attract those numbers at first, but we're sure going to try!

We've got at least one thing going for us that the NAAR organizers had with the support of the huge North Shore/Long Island Jewish Health System. Corporate Co-Chairs, Dr. Bernard Rosof and Dr. John Kane have set a goal of 1,000 walkers from their health system. Isn't it nice to imagine walkers from all departments, not just psychiatry, walking shoulder to shoulder?

And, of course, we expect lots of other people. Families and friends, representatives from agencies, other hospitals, other organizations, clubhouses, programs, businesses and who knows who else joining us as we walk proudly to change people's minds about mental illness.

Yes, I know about stigma. Many people are in the closet or are beaten down by the daily struggle with mental illness that walking to raise awareness about our cause hardly seems at the top of their list. But it should be. And stigma is no excuse. This is the third year of the national NAMI Walks Campaign and if you saw the video they made of walks all over the country, you'd become a believer too. There's Moe Armstrong, consumer extraordinaire, exhorting everyone to believe that we can accomplish the impossible if we just work together. And a gorgeous African American woman walking proudly with her young family to salute the courage of her brother whose life has been thrown tragically off course by mental illness. People walking joyously together in what NAMI describes as a coast-to-coast event should inspire all of us to join in.