Every Child is Special by Sharon Fenoglio, Director of Development and Public Relations

“Our best moments are secrets, and sometimes we don’t even know them ourselves, so none of us can ever be honored appropriately.  Honor is private.  Our public reputations depend on the opinions of the uninformed.  Each one of us a book reviewed by critics who only read the chapter headings and the jacket flap.  We’re all a mystery.  We should all respect each other on that basis.”  – Garrison Keillor, “Life among the Lutherans”

This quote stuck with me after I read it.  We are all a mystery.  No two of us are alike.  If each child at Every Child’s Hope was a book and judged by chapter headings and jacket flaps, most would be deeply misunderstood. 

Isaac, a young man living out our St. Charles Rock Road Campus, recently wrote a song about his secrets and his mystery.  Though I heard him recite it for the first time in January, I am still struck by his courage and honesty.  These are his words: 

There’s a story inside of me
A story untold.
I ain’t always been this happy
I used to take the lonely road.

And now I know my secrets are about to unfold.
So here we go, behold the things you may have never seen.

All the hurt, all the people who abuse me
and not a friend in the world.
I turn straight to the music.

Tried to show them I wasn’t weak,
All they did was make me prove it.
And now, look at where I am,
A soul many may call lost.

All the bad things I did to prove to the world I wasn’t soft.
And now look at me, I am softer than I’ve ever been.
Knowing there’s no hope for me, A person who forever sins.
I’m just here forever going in, trying to purify my heart.

I’m the furthest thing from innocent
And in this song there are some things I don’t mention
Because they are between me, myself and I.

Have you ever heard a young man’s cries?
All I do is minimize the things I feel inside.
I have a corrupt mind, my whole life has been criminalized,
And I’ve been penalized from the get go, from the start.

How can I pray to a God who I think heart in my heart,
Lost touch with reality
me and the world so far apart.

How come I feel so dumb, they always tell me I’m so smart.
Cause I ain’t feeling so smart
But I did used to be so intelligent
But the things I did in my past makes that so irrelevant.

But how can I make for a better future?
I need to encourage myself
I need a couple self boosters
a change of routine
a change from what I’m used to.

If I can’t be honest with myself,
who in this world can I be truthful?
Nobody.

Because I’m just here all on my own.
Always writing love songs and thug songs
and I’m just here and I’m trying to stay strong.

Trying to reverse all of my bad,
Trying to reverse all of the wrong.
Sitting here crying at night, wishing all my faith wasn’t gone.
Cause now I have no one to call.

They say life is like a ladder.
What do you do if you fall?
well, I gave it a try,
But I didn’t give it my all.

Why didn’t I give it my all?

Cause maybe things would be better,
Maybe I just need to write myself a letter.
A letter only to myself so I will always remember
it’s okay to ask for help.

Even when you’re feeling really down
Just know, It’s okay to get on your knees and cry out.
That it’s okay for us to make mistakes
Cause there’s a new chance with each and every day.

So every morning when you awake,
promise yourself that you will never give up.
And just say enough is never enough.
And promise you will always show yourself love
before you show love to another.
Cause we as a people die but our legacies last forever.