Trigger warning: Suicide method mentioned briefly.
This is the memory page for Charles Aubrey Rogers who died by suicide June 5, 2015. Enormously popular and the funniest person I ever knew, Charles touched the lives of thousands.
He was a creative genius who loved crazy hats and crazy socks, people, acting, and writing rap music. He was a talented and prolific writer with the ability to freestyle on the spot. He left notebooks of his rap music lyrics which I incorporated into my memoir, Diary of a Broken Mind, a Mother’s memoir about our family’s story. Those lyrics helped me understand the “why” behind his suicide and addiction.
He suffered from ADHD, a rare sleep disorder called DSPS for most of his life as well as depression, anxiety, and a heroin addiction towards the end of his life. He died by hanging.
He had a sixth sense about people who were in pain. And he’d always reach out to the hurting, the underdog, the rejected. As funny and as talented as Charles was, his greatest gift was letting others know they mattered. That is something each of us can do today, starting right now. In my son’s memory, I want all of us to connect to another human being and #justlisten.
- Charles’ lyrics on this site
- Charles’ SoundCloud
- Charles song, I don’t want to be a Patient on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon etc.
- Seleka Rap with Charles
- Happy by Charles Aubrey Rogers
- Diary of a Broken Mind, Anne Moss Rogers’ memoir that includes Charles’ song lyrics
- Charles’ YouTube
- Videos about Charles from his friends at his Memorial Service
- VHS Family Videos
- Charles’ website
- I kissed a squirrel on YouTube – His was the original that spawned copycat videos
- Timeboy1408– Charles’ YouTube in middle school
- Charles’ personality was so big– Blog post about who he was
- Charles Always Reached Out– Blog post about who he was
How we felt about hearing the news – The Final 48 Hours
