CONTENT WARNING: This article contains mentions of suicide that may be upsetting to some readers. Reader discretion is advised. Resources and assistance are available at 988lifeline.org and by calling the suicide and crisis lifeline at 988.

The quiet hums of air conditioning fills a two story home in Springfield, Ky. Photos of a family line the walls of the home.

A girl named Taylor Rae Nolan is pictured in a framed photo on the home’s mantle next to colorfully painted and collaged artwork she spent hours on.

Beside the mantle, Taylor’s mother stands looking at the image almost seven years later, grieving a life cut short.

Although the home once carried tragedy, it now serves as a message built on hope.

Taylora Schlosser, Taylor’s mother, said she never wanted anyone to feel the grief she did when she lost her daughter in January 2019.

“I was in shock, I didn’t believe it,” Schlosser said. “I even told the gentleman that unfortunately had to share that news with me, ‘I don’t believe you, there’s no way.’”

On Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2019, Taylor had been getting ready to move into the Chi Omega sorority house at the University of Kentucky for the second semester of her sophomore year.

“That weekend we packed her clothes, she put down all the dates for her tests in the future, we got little organizational bins for her art supplies, we went shopping,” Schlosser said. “We did so many things that I just thought were normal.”

That same day, Schlosser received a text message from her daughter at 6 p.m. that read, “I love you.”

“I love you too, baby,” Schlosser texted back, like any other normal message from the two.

Those were the last words Schlosser would say to her daughter.

At 19 years old, Taylor Nolan died from suicide that night. 

Schlosser didn’t believe it when she was first told the news.

“I thought, ‘You’ve got it all wrong, it’s the wrong Taylor, not my Taylor,’” Schlosser said.

To everyone around Taylor, including Schlosser and her family, everything seemed normal.

“That’s the hardest part . . . As I keep travelling around, people say, ‘Did you know?’ and I did not,” Schlosser said. “That’s one of the things I always share.”

The day Schlosser was helping Taylor pack her bags for college, they talked about dreams they had with one another. A dream that would be short-lived with her daughter left Schlosser’s mind that day.

“I knew I would never get to buy her a white wedding dress,” Schlosser said. “I wasn’t going to get to do that.”

Schlosser said she would talk to friends who also had children to try to see if they understood her experience in hopes of finding and understanding her own grief.

For Schlosser, having friends and support allowed her to realize she did not have to navigate through grief and life alone.

“What we are going to focus on now is how you live without her,” Schlosser said while recalling a conversation she had with her therapist about grief. “You can spend the rest of your life trying to figure out the why, but it’s not going to matter. She’s not here and how are you going to live without her?”

Two months after the loss of her child, Schlosser decided to come to UK to tell her daughter’s story.

Schlosser felt like she had to step up for her three sons, especially her oldest son, Will. According to Schlosser, Taylor was his first best friend, and he knew he and his family had to do something for her.

“My son said, ‘Mama, we aren’t going to be ashamed. We are going to do something. We’re going to start a foundation, we’re going to do a scholarship,’” Schlosser said. “We basically hit the road.”

By the end of February 2019, Taylor’s family decided to create a nonprofit named after her. Titled Rae of Sunshine, the nonprofit’s mission is to break the stigma surrounding mental health and increasing access to support resources.

The nonprofit’s mission also came with a message, often written on bright yellow bracelets the nonprofit passes out. With “#TAYRAENOL” written on them, the message is also seen on the Rae of Sunshine foundation’s web address.

The yellow on the bracelets were dedicated to Taylor, according to Schlosser, who said it described her daughter from her blonde curly hair, to her yellow playhouse that remains outside their home, to her kindness.

Taylor’s stepfather has kept his bracelet on since 2019. Having never removed it, the letters were now rubbed completely off his bracelet band.

“Everyone grieves differently,” Schlosser said. “He’s (Taylor’s stepfather) never going to take it off, and I’m going to constantly give mine away to tell the story.”

According to Schlosser, the foundation advocates for mental health awareness across Kentucky through education and community outreach programs. Part of this includes S.M.I.L.E. clubs, named by a person Taylor knew in high school who said she was the only person in high school who smiled at him, according to Schlosser.

“It’s amazing to me that I go to schools, and I’m sitting there with three S.M.I.L.E. club members and they have never met her, but you would think they would’ve known her her whole life,” Schlosser said. “It’s a pretty big deal, especially for a mama that doesn’t get to see her anymore.”

Having people come up to her and say they were appreciative of the conversations on mental well-being has been truly important, Schlosser said.

“I put that (Taylor’s story) out there, and I know that probably comes with some judgment because I’m sure a lot of people have an opinion, but I’m telling you when you get that knock on the door, nothing else matters,” Schlosser said. “I don’t want another mama to live with this, because this is every day of my life.”

Schlosser said her main focus is to let people know they are not alone in their mental health struggles and there are resources and people who are there to support them.

“I know none of us have all the answers, but we all gotta know that we did everything we could,” Schlosser said. “I have to know that I did everything I could while I got days left on this earth that the world is just a little bit safer and a little bit brighter.”

Taylor’s legacy continues to grow through Rae of Sunshine with its continued advocacy in spreading hope and positivity.

Schlosser said she still carries memories of her daughter and their time together through every moment she can. Whether it’s through her advocacy or day-to-day life, Schlosser said she continues to find her daughter in everything she does.

“We’ve all got a little Taylor in us and we can all relate to trying to be everything to everybody,” Schlosser said.

Schlosser continues to tell her daughter’s story across Kentucky in the hopes that Taylor’s mark remains present in Rae of Sunshine.

“I think she (Taylor) would say, ‘Mama, that’s pretty darn awesome,’” Schlosser said. “She would be happy. I sure hope so.”