Mandisa shares heartfelt response to designer Kate Spade’s suicide: ‘You are not alone’

Article By Angela Harris // EEW Magazine News

GRAMMY® Award-winning Contemporary Christian singer, Mandisa Hundley, who has battled depression, responded to the sad news of designer Kate Spade’s suicide Tuesday.

The “Overcomer” songstress shared a heartfelt message pointing out the fact that “depression affects people from all walks of life.”

Mandisa, 41, addressed the tragic turn of events by sharing her own experience. She posted actual voice messages from loved ones repeatedly checking on her when she went through depression. The sound recordings are from the introduction of her critically-acclaimed Out of the Dark album.

“It’s one thing to say that I shut out everyone who loved me, but I wanted people to hear the kinds of messages I was receiving from my loved ones during that dark, hopeless season. These messages went unanswered by me, but I heard them,” she wrote.

Kate Spade

The well-loved singer with the big smile, who first rose to fame as a contestant on the fifth season of American Idol, continued, “If you have a loved one that you sense is walking through darkness, I want to encourage you to do what my loved ones did for me.”

They bugged Mandisa and relentlessly pursued her.

One of her female friends, whose voicemail was published on Mandisa’s album, said, “Just checking in again. I really would just love to know how you’re doing and just know that I’m praying for you, and I really, really, really miss your friendship, but I know that you’re walking through a dark time. I just don’t want you to walk through it alone.”

It is messages like that, Mandisa noted, that exemplified Christ-like love and helped her make it through.

“We sing about God’s reckless love, but often that love is experienced through the hands and feet of Jesus: that’s us!” she said. “We may be the one He speaks through. Even if you don’t hear back from them, your prayers, and your voice telling them that you love them will go a long way.”

At the end of Mandisa’s message, she added, “I just learned about Kate Spade’s suicide today. Depression affects people from all walks of life. It doesn’t discriminate by race, age, or social status. You are not alone.”

According to an Associated Press report, Spade, 55, was found dead in her Park Avenue apartment Tuesday. News of her death shocked the fashion world and led to an outpouring of tributes from her legions of fans.

A housekeeper discovered Spade’s body hanging in her bedroom, police said. While investigators were still in the early stages of their inquiry, the department’s chief of detectives, Dermot Shea, said evidence including a note pointed to “a tragic suicide.”

Mandisa further offered help to those struggling and in need of someone to speak to by pointing her audience to TheHopeLine.com or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

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