MIAMI – When she was in fourth grade, Tatiana remembers feeling like her "dark secrets" made it difficult for her to connect with others at her school in Coconut Grove.
Her parents were divorced. She lived with her mom and a step-dad who had been sexually abusing her since she was 5. At 16, she had her first drink after school. The emotional pain disappeared and she was laughing, she said.
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Alcohol helped her cope. But it wasn't until she was 19 that she found happiness, she said. She was at a nightclub in South Beach. There were "pills, cocaine and alcohol, and they were all there for the taking," she said.
"The happiness only lasted two years. I fell apart pretty quickly," she said. "I don't remember how I ended up in New York City alone and suicidal. I had been raped, I was living with a boyfriend who was beating me up and I was broke. All I could think about was killing myself."
Tatiana, who asked not to be identified by last name, is now 34 and in the legal field. After her failed suicide attempt, she was diagnosed with depression and anxiety and has been getting psychological and psychiatric treatment. She had never gotten a tattoo, but got one last week, after a friend told her about "#projectsemicolon."
"I found freedom from abuse, alcohol, drugs, depression and anxiety. I'm self-sufficient ... I have good days and bad days, but I am glad every day that I didn't succeed with my plan of killing myself," she said. "The semicolon tattoo represents all of that."
Project Semicolon founder Amy Bleuel has a similar story. It includes emotional and physical pain. She was a victim of abuse and her father committed suicide when she was 18. In his memory, she founded the organization in 2013.
"In my 20 years of personally struggling with mental health I experienced many stigmas associated with it," Bleuel said.
The trend of the semicolon tattoo took off this month. Some of the posts on Twitter and Instagram include additional tattoos such as "My Story Isn't Over Yet" or the words "Warrior" and "Brave."
For Tatiana, the semicolon is also a way of honoring the memory of all of the friends that she said she has lost to suicide.
HELP: For more information about Project Semicolon, submit a message here. The national suicide prevention hot lines are 1-800-784-2433 or 1-800-273-8255.
"When I was in law school, I had a friend in sobriety who turned up dead in her dorm," she said. "She had a relapse and was too ashamed to tell anyone. She kept too many secrets and chose to see a period instead of a semicolon.
"I'm very lucky to have a good quality of life ... I'm glad I chose the semicolon when I got help."
Follow Local10.com reporter Andrea Torres on Twitter @MiamiCrime