‘Chicken Soup’ publishes Ocoee mom’s story

The rainbows appear in different forms.

Sometimes, it’s in a song on the radio. Other times, it’s as simple as a sticker or rainbow-colored adirondack chairs lined up on someone’s patio.

Then, there are those times when a beautiful double rainbow spans across a lake, painting the sky with bold, bright colors. A rainbow is a symbol of promise, hope and new life.

It’s a ray of hope for Ocoee resident Chris Lowe, who lost her 20-year-old son, Hudson, to suicide in July 2017. For her, rainbows are Hudson’s way of promising he’s there with her.

And the story of Hudson sending his first rainbow is the topic of Lowe’s short story recently published in the new book “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Messages from Heaven and Other Miracles.”

HUDSON PHONES HOME

The “Chicken Soup for the Soul” franchise allows writers to submit poems and short stories to be compiled into one of its many themed books. Lowe had a friend who submitted a story in the past and encouraged her to write and submit her own. By the time she started writing the story, another friend messaged her to suggest the same. 

Taking them up on their suggestions, she decided to tell the story of the first rainbow the family ever got from Hudson.

“I went on the website after her article was in there, and they had ‘Messages from Heaven and Other Miracles’ coming up,” she said. “We’ve had so many messages from heaven from Hudson that it’s been uncanny. It started with the rainbows, and that’s what the story is about. The story is called ‘Hudson Phones Home.’”

Not everyone can say they are a published author. Beyond that, even fewer can say they wrote their published piece while sitting in a jury-duty waiting room. But Lowe wrote the story down in 20 minutes while waiting to serve on jury duty.

“Hudson Phones Home” begins when Lowe and her two daughters, Dakota and Delaney, were in their living room telling stories of Hudson together the week after he died. Suddenly, his cell phone rang.

“It was sitting on his Bible on the kitchen table,” she said. “We all jumped up once we realized it was him and ran to the phone. We look, and it says, ‘Caller Unknown.’ I look at the girls, out at the lake and said, ‘He’s going to send us a rainbow, watch.’”

While Chris ran out front, the girls ran out back to look for the rainbow. Sure enough, among the rain clouds was a massive, bright double rainbow that arched over the lake.

“We started screaming, ‘Hudson, you did it!’” Lowe said. “I’m yelling so happy, we’re crying and yelling. We were overjoyed that we got this sign from him. That was the beginning of the rainbows, and then it just kept happening nonstop.”

When she first submitted the story, she didn’t mention Hudson died by suicide. But after reviewing the final draft, she decided it was a necessary part of the story.

“It just bothered me that it didn’t say anything about suicide, because now I’m going out speaking to schools and kids about suicide awareness,” Lowe said. “I said, ‘This needs to say suicide, because that’s how he died. That’s his story.’ This kid who had it all, who said, ‘Never give up, don’t let the world change you, you can change the world.’ Hudson didn’t give up — he put toxic chemicals in his body that made his brain think that he had no choice.”

Whenever someone reads “Hudson Phones Home,” Lowe said, she hopes they feel inspired — especially those who have lost a loved one. She wants them to know that although they might not physically be here, love never dies.

“That’s what I want people to see and feel when they read this,” she said. “They’re trying to give you signs, and if you look up, are open to it and pay attention, you’ll see them. There’s a bigger plan. Losing my son wasn’t my plan, but maybe the big plan is he’s going to save a lot of lives. He’s going to give a lot of people hope, because he’s given me hope, and now I can give other people hope.”

FALL FORWARD

Hudson’s death and battle with anxiety, depression and corresponding medications are why Lowe now spends her time talking to students in schools about suicide awareness and prevention, as well as the dangers of Adderall, prescription drugs and more.

In fact, the last time she saw Hudson, their conversation was about getting him off his medications.

“He was getting ready to leave, and looking at my pictures, and I said, ‘Hudson, we’ve got to find a way to get you off these medications — it’s a lot for your body, and if we can start slowly getting you off we can get through all this,’” she said. “He said, ‘Yeah, and once I get through this I’m going to travel and speak to kids about how to get through their anxiety and depression.’ Now here I am and that’s what I’m doing — I’m speaking to kids about suicide prevention.

“Part of the story is people need to know there’s hope out in the world,” she said. “We thought were doing everything right as parents. He was at the psychiatrist, going to a therapist, but I didn’t know what everything was doing to his mind.”

Now, there is still much the Lowe family wants to accomplish in Hudson’s memory.

In honor of Hudson’s passion for the environment, his family started a nonprofit called “Our Green Future,” which aims to promote a sustainable world and greener future for everyone. It’s the umbrella for The Fall Forward Project, which involves collecting 45,000 tank tops to upcycle into bags. It promotes sustainability and recycling — and the goal represents the number of lives lost last year to suicide in the United States.

“Hudson’s story has become my purpose,” she said. “Not in a way where I’ve lost myself in his story, but in a way that I can help others because of him, and that’s my purpose. I tell kids, ‘I’m standing here so your mother never has to.’ I can’t change the past, but I can make sure that no one else has to deal with this. I know for a fact he’s probably saved hundreds of people already.”