I have to feel thankful for the gifts Charles left and the memories I have now. So thankful that my family allows me to cry and to talk about my youngest child after his suicide.
Randy doesn’t recoil and panic when I cry. Richard gives me a hug and always just lets me get it out of my system.
Charles told me when he was 14 he didn’t think he would live to be old. And he’d talk about people that died young. I didn’t know it at the time, but those are clear signs of suicidal ideation.
I think that’s why Charles just went for anything that made him happy in the moment. He figured he might as well do whatever he wanted while he could. I didn’t understand that at the time.
Twenty years was not long enough for me. But that’s what I have to be satisfied with, live with, and cherish.
Family Matters – a rap by Charles Aubrey Rogers
Published by
Anne Moss Rogers
I am an emotionally naked mental health speaker, and author of the Book, Diary of a Broken Mind and co-author with Kim O'Brien PhD, LICSW of Emotionally Naked: A Teacher's Guide to Preventing Suicide and Recognizing Students at Risk. I raised two boys, Richard and Charles, and lost my younger son, Charles to addiction and suicide on June 5, 2015. I help people foster a culture of connection to prevent suicide, reduce substance misuse and find life after loss. My motivational mental health keynotes, training and workshop topics include suicide prevention, addiction, mental illness, anxiety, coping strategies/resilience, and grief.
As talented and funny as Charles was, letting other people know they matter was his greatest gift. And now the legacy I try and carry forward in my son's memory.
Mental Health Speakers Website. Trained in ASIST and trainer for the evidence-based 4-hour training for everyone called safeTALK.
View all posts by Anne Moss Rogers
Hugs to you…
Beautiful–thank you for sharing.
twenty years is not long enough. period. <3
❤️