Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Second Letter to Maria

Dear Ms. Maria,

My name is [withheld] and I appreciated you coming in and talking to us. I am in a gang also and part of me wants to leave all that alone but at the same time it is a huge part of my life. I felt like you were telling my story over but just a little different.
When you made the statement about not being apart of that gang and disowning them, it sort of inspired me like big time. I thought about all the girls my age that loved being a crip. (Oh, that’s the gang I’m in). Anyway, including me we rep it hard and we make it seem like that’s all we want to do when we get older. Get pregnant, rep our gang, smoke, drink, party…blah blah blah. But I don’t want that, I want to be a nurse practioner, I want to be respected for the things I’ve done not the people I’ve hurt or killed. Only thing is right now I feel like I am between a rock and a hard place. I feel like I just want to give up (I also feel like I am rambling in this letter).
Anyway, before I pour my heart out to you and embarrass myself I just wanted to again thank you for coming in and sharing with us your words of wisdom. Each time I get passes from my group home and go around my old hanging spots I will remember you and push myself to do the right thing no matter what.



Yours Truly,
Anonymous 2

1 comment:

reyrey said...

Thank you for allowing me to share and for listening. I know how hard it can be to imagine a life any different from the only one we know. We find comfort in it because that’s all we know. We have to reprogram ourselves to believe, to hope, to dream. We have to remind ourselves that all the love, joy, and whatever else we seek is already within us. All we have to do is let it emerge. I hope you don’t let your past life, mistakes, or friends define you. You and only you can ever define you. Keep pushing yourself to be the best you. Being you will always be the right thing to do.