From Charles’ rap song, Run Free:
“Leanin’ on clouds up in heaven with my rap feelin’ free at last
Floatin’ through the present
I ain’t focused on the past”
I hope he has found peace. Still working on finding mine. Thank you Megan for capturing the sky scene I’ve been
Charles would rather Eminem or Cage be performing this rap. But I don’t know their numbers.
Since 8th grade, rap was Charles’ lifeline. He wrote it, performed it and it helped him deal with his depression and his addiction. I’m not talking about the
This was sent to me by another mom, Angel, who lost her daughter to suicide. Their kittens had a litter and three of them were napping and she snapped a picture saying it reminded her of my #griefheart project.
It reminded me what a great cuddler Charles was. More than Richard, Charles needed hugs
I will always have smiles, and tears, for my son Charles. He had no idea how much me meant to us and to others at that last dark moment when he took his own life.
My neighbor Wendy Holt organized things to drop off after he died by suicide. And one of those things was lots of boxes of kleenex which
Another of Charles’ raps penned under Reezin’ the Revolutionary. This one nails addiction. It’s not pleasant but neither is the illness. I think once you read it, you start to have an understanding of the self loathing an addict suffers from.
Warning, it has some language.
Self blame. Confusion. Loss of self esteem. Those are the results of silence. This letter is from a friend of a friend who is about 20 years old. Young people do want to talk about mental illness, addiction and suicide. But they won’t if you don’t.
My best friend growing up was Jaimie
Blame it on grief brain, but I miscounted. #griefhearts number 34 and 35 got left out. So that there is not a gap, I am sliding in this number 34 after 52.
Mathematicians will hate it. But who says you have to always count in order? It is, after all, a creative project. Charles
Charles pretty much had the worst diet ever. If it was a processed food, he loved it. And he loved those brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts. Oh how I worried about his teeth.
I didn’t buy pop tarts but Randy would buy them “for the kids.” When I saw these in the pantry today (can’t
My family suffered the triple stigma with our son – depression, addiction and death by suicide. Stigma can exist only in an environment where judgment and lack of education thrive. Which is precisely why we need to talk about them. Openly and without judgment.
I am stripping away the façade and
Me: I don’t know yet which is worse. The anticipation of June 5, Charles’ death anniversary, or the actual day
Alter Ego: I’ve noticed you are sleeping restlessly again and the hot flashes are worse
Me: And the heaviness in my
