VOX is proud to share these voices of Kate’s Club teens during Grief Awareness Month and #BlueNovember.
To bring the mic to teens at your Atlanta-area organization or school, contact Rachel@voxatl.org.
People Hide Behind a Smile
By Trinity Powers
Everyone is different, but similar in their own way. There are some children that have no one to rely on for love. Many people have dreams but are told at a young age that they can never accomplish their dream. Others have had parent snatched away from their lives and have been left with no guidance. People hide behind a smile but deep inside there is pain. How can the would change for the better if everyone hides from the truth? What’s not understood must be explained!
Healing Lights
By Madison Dungy, 18
My lips don’t always say what I feel
yet my eyes always seem to reveal what I really feel.
Though, these wounds won’t seem to heal
And my tears don’t always represent my fears
I feel that I have grown
it’s probably not always shown
Time… My Friend?… My enemy?…
You make me miss him..
Miss the light in his eyes
The joy in his presence
His heart of pure platinum
To which no other can compare
Do you see?
He was a part of me.
He contained my joy, my laughter, my sight
Now I carry his light.
Don’t Judge
By Daniel Brill, 15
My family has been through a lot in our life. At age 2, I was taken from my mom and placed with another woman who didn’t treat me right. People need to understand that not everyone had or even has a good life. So don’t judge me and don’t tell me you know how I feel because you don’t. No one knows what I’ve been through in the last four years of my miserable life before coming to Georgia.
A quote I live by is, “It’s always darkest before the dawn.”
And a quote that I have related to is by Robin Williams: “I think it’s the saddest people who try to make everyone else happy because they know what it’s like to feel miserable and don’t want anyone else to feel that way.”
My Brother was Killed
By C.B., 17
In 2008, when I was 10, My brother was killed by homicide. When he was alive when I was a kid, we were very close. We would spend a lot of our time together and when he died I lost someone I really loved and cared about. After that I became anti-social, violent and angry. But even though people tried to help, I didn’t feel like they [could] understand. But I started to finally open up and tell someone. So I feel like I’ve been able to get a little closer from his death.
Venting
By Name Withheld, 17
When it comes to my grief journey there are many variables that I would like people to understand. I would even life for people to understand that I don’t always want to tell people what I would like them to understand. Emotionally I would like people to understand that their wording needs to be very choice and thought out when speaking on such a sensitive subject.
The wrong choice of words could have an emotional impact on me and leave a negative impression on the person who said those words.
Everybody’s different. Everybody’s situations are different. Because of this I would like people to understand that the way I express myself isn’t bad — just because it’s different or weird to them. When dealing with different things I prefer not to talk about it much, and if I feel the need I may use marijuana to help take my mind off things.
Even though people can abuse drugs, [I think] using them responsibly for good reasons can be helpful and make a person not explode with everything boiled up inside. Even though I may be getting off topic, maybe even rambling, it’s just because I have an opportunity to vent my feelings without having to talk. That is also another thing I would like people to understand: Sometimes I just want to vent about random things.
