Paul Lauzier is hoping the mental strength gained from the walk he’s about to take far surpasses the physical strength he’ll acquire if he completes it.

Starting Wednesday Lauzier will attempt to walk the length of the East Coast, and then back, more than 3,000 miles.

It’s something he talked about doing with his daughter, Tina, several years ago.

After she took her own life last summer, the road before Lauzier of Lewiston became clear.

The time to do the trek would be now, and he would leave on her birthday, March 9, from the hospital where she was born in Lewiston and walk to his son’s house in Sebastian, Fla.

Then Lauzier decided he would make his way home, walking another 1,500 miles to return to the site of her death, the Casco Bay Bridge, where Tina Lauzier ended her life on Aug. 6.

Lauzier is walking for all those affected by mental illness. He’s walking for his mother, Ella, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, and his first wife, Jeannine, who died of cancer.

But mostly, Lauzier is walking the 3,048 miles for Tina, as a symbol of her long and arduous struggle with depression, bipolar disorder and the physical pain she suffered after jumping from the bridge 14 years before, the first time she attempted to take her life.

The social workers and community centers where Tina sought support would not comment on her story.

Told by her father, it’s a story of frustration, sadness, loneliness, anger, abuse and darkness.

But from the painful memories, Lauzier is hoping to cast a bit of light and share with others who suffer in similar ways that they’re not alone.

“I want to raise awareness for other people going through the same thing. Maybe they’ll feel more free to talk about it,” Lauzier said, sitting up straight in a Portland coffee shop.

As businessmen and students talked and worked around Lauzier, he described the years his daughter lived with chronic pain after her first suicide attempt in 1996.

For years Lauzier said he tried to show his daughter she was not alone. He’s still trying.

And so Lauzier, who has walked all over Maine, will leave on her birth date from the place she came into the world to walk to Florida.

“I wanted to bike the four corners of the U.S. But I’m more used to walking,” Lauzier said.

He said his son, Scott, is the only one who has confidence he’ll make it, other than himself.

“I think he’s doing it for awareness. The last few years, he was real close with my sister, Tina. He’s just trying to do something for her memory,” said Scott Lauzier, 42, in Sebastian, Fla.

“He’s been walking all his life. I questioned him, but he’s confident about it. He’ll get it done. If there’s any possible way, he’ll complete what he needs to do.”

Staff Writer Deirdre Fleming can be contacted at 791-6452 or at:

dfleming@pressherald.com