Danielle Bissonnette feels her sister’s presence every time she looks out the windows at the trees in her yard. Whenever she laughs, her sister’s “megawatt smile” flashes through her mind.
It’s been nearly six years since Michelle “Mickee” Bissonnette died by suicide at the age of 54. She and Danielle, three years younger, had been each other’s only family since their 20s, when their parents passed away.
For Danielle, Mickee was “a friend, a sister, a mother, a father, sibling rivalry.” She was someone who walked around radiating light. “She was just special in the way that I think that she heard people and could see their rawness,” Danielle said, her voice breaking.
Mickee struggled with depression, anxiety and alcoholism for most of her adult life, Danielle said.
“When she was feeling well, she was charismatic — the best joke teller in the world — had a great laugh, and when she could rally and she was up, she was fuller than life,” Danielle said. “But let’s face it, life isn’t always happy and go lucky. She had more than her share of struggles with her mental illness.”
To honor her sister, Danielle, who lives in Henniker, participates each October in NAMIWalks New Hampshire, an event that garners awareness for mental health and suicide prevention and raises money for education, advocacy and community support. On Sunday, the event enters its 24th year, and she will be walking alongside over 1,500 other participants across 157 teams.
“It’s about people coming together in utter patience, kindness, understanding, sorrow, and joy — there’s joy. It’s a joyful thing, as well,” she said.
Danielle walked for the first time in 2021, forming the team Mickee’s Milers. NAMI, or the National Alliance for Mental Illness, has been “transformative” for her. She joined a survivor support group through the nonprofit in the aftermath of her sister’s death and was gratified to build connections with those experiencing similar losses.
Throughout her grief journey, she keeps coming back to her desire that the world recognize her sister as “so much more” than her final moments.
Danielle said she particularly appreciates the outreach that NAMI does around mental illness to help people in moments of difficulty rather than just focusing organizational efforts around suicide.
“I really walk for the people that are suffering through mental illness right now,” she said. “I walk for them. I walk for their families who are supporting them. I walk for the survivors like myself who are left behind. And very importantly, I walk for trying to remove the stigma about mental illness, because I want that stigma removed.”
Mickee was vibrant and kind. She worked in the restaurant industry most of her career, spending her final seven years at Campo Enoteca in Manchester, where she lived. Her customers said she “made their going out special,” Danielle said. Many of them mourned her passing.
“She was honest and real, even when it was hard for people,” Danielle said. “She didn’t have a problem being a cheerleader for them. She just couldn’t do it for herself, and I guess that’s why I was here.”
Her sister’s struggles weren’t always visible. Danielle wants mental health to be normalized so that more people feel comfortable seeking help or verbalizing their difficulties.
“As a society, we have no problems going to the doctor if we’re physically ill, but when it comes time to [talk about] mental health, there’s such a stigma around it, and we need to break that barrier. And NAMI is doing a great job,” she said.
NAMIWalks New Hampshire takes place on Sunday, Oct. 4 at the Soccer Fields on S. Fruit Street in Concord. Registration begins at 9 a.m., with opening ceremonies at 10 a.m. and the walk at 10:30 a.m. Visit namiwalks.org/newhampshire for more information.
If you need help
- National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
- NH Rapid Response Access Point: If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health and/or substance use crisis, call/text 1-833-710-6477 to speak to trained clinical staff.
