John Trautwein
AUTHOR

John Trautwein

Relationships, Parenting & Personal Development
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John Trautwein When John Trautwein completed writing the draft of his first book, MY LIVING WILL, he felt as if he’d lost a friend and a companion that had been with him every day for over three years. “I was actually a bit lonely knowing that I was not going to add to the manuscript each day” says Trautwein who began the project at age forty-nine never having believed he would ever author a book. A native of the Chicago area, and a successful business man in the Atlanta area, Trautwein began MY LIVING WILL about a year after the suicide death of his eldest child, his son Will. The Trautwein family and the community were stunned by this sudden tragedy – no-one had any idea that Will was struggling. Quickly, however, the Trautwein’s learned the cold hard truth about teenage suicide, as well as mental illnesses like depression that are leading kids to suicide at an alarming rate in America. Suicide is an epidemic among teenagers, who are taking their lives every two hours in America and no-one was talking about it. As a result of their tragic loss, and their immediate education on teen suicide, John and his wife Susie started a nonprofit organization called “The Will To Live Foundation” to work closely with the kids of our communities to not only help spread the message of teen suicide awareness but also help these teens recognize the wonderful bonds of friendship we call “life teammate bonds” that help each other find the good in life! Since the foundation started, John has been making well over 100 speeches and presentations every year to both parents and kids in communities across the country, spreading not only the suicide awareness message, but also the foundation’s message of finding “love” and “hope” and support from your friends – your life teammates. Teaching kids to talk about it. The Will To Live Foundation have been recognized on CNN, CBS News, Fox Sports, The Big Ten Network and Fox Sports just to name a few, and in 2012, The Trautweins were awarded the “Presidential Point of Light” award for their work with the foundation. “Four years ago when our Will died,” says Trautwein, “my wife and I promised ourselves that we would hide nothing - we would share all we could to help raise the awareness of teen suicide and depression and the struggles our young kids face today. We promised we'd never stop "talking about it.” Within months after Will's death, I knew I had to put down on paper the amazing things I was experiencing for fear I would forget - and my family would forget. As time grew, the love we received grew even faster - and our "New Normal" was slowly achieved thanks to so many people. May the stories contained within MY LIVING WILL motivate and inspire all of us to continue talking - loving - giving of ourselves and perhaps most importantly - delivering hope!” John is a Graduate of Northwestern University where he became friends with Yankees Manager Joe Girardi, who wrote the forward to MY LIVING WILL. After graduating from NU john went on to enjoy a seven year professional baseball career in the Expos and Red Sox organizations, and he pitched in the major leagues for the Boston Red Sox in 1988. Currently he is the President of Source Support Services, Inc. a global IT services and support company, headquartered in the Atlanta suburb of Lawrenceville, GA. When John is not spending his spare time with the Will To Live Foundation, you can find him coaching, mentoring kids and being with his wife, Susie, and his three surviving children, Tommy, Michael and Holyn in the Atlanta area.
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