The Daily News

Insanity: Doing the same thing over & over & expecting a different result each time. For three years, every single morning, I woke up from bed in hopes that it was all a nightmare, in hopes that if I drove over to your house I’d be greeted by a hug and of course that intoxicating smile of yours that always put a smile on my face. For three years, I thought I was crazy because even though I knew I couldn’t come over and say hi to you, even though I knew that it was in fact not a dream, I still had that bit of hope that would be crushed every single morning. Three years ago on Thanksgiving morning at 5:23 am, I received numerous missed calls, I was too tired from preparing Thanksgiving dinner for the next day to answer. It was supposed to be a day we came together to celebrate all the things we’re grateful for; turns out I would be more thankful for a presence that was now lost. When I finally found out what had happened, I refused to believe it. That’s when I got a text: “Talisha, put on the news”. That was the last day I watched the news. That’s when my phone dropped and I saw your beautiful picture on the TV screen and below it, it read “20-year-old stabbed to death”.
The daily news, it is something watched by millions of human beings constantly. Everyday, we see horrific tragedies, people of all ages, all races from all over the world, who have parted in some dramatic way. It is not, however, until we see someone we love, someone we care for, SOMEONE who had once been a part of our everyday life – it is then, in that VERY instant when our vision of the daily news is changed. In that second your mind is left pondering every minute you spent with that individual. Every joke that was shared and everyday spent together that always ended with a smile. In those couple seconds you come to the realization that there will no longer be those moments, you will no longer be able to see, touch or hug that person. That’s when it clicks, that’s when this unbearable feeling in the pit of our stomach is felt – almost as if every organ in your body has shifted and twisted into a huge tangled ball. Anger, sadness, denial which soon turns to a realization all at once, in a matter of minutes, all because of the daily news.
Two years later I did a presentation at school about youth violence. I did a survey among my classmates asking them if they’ve ever lost someone due to violence. To my surprise almost all the hands in the room went up. Youth are so quick to pull a trigger not considering the consequences on themselves, their family and the victim’s family. To take one life is to destroy hundreds. I hope that there will be a day when no one ever has to see a loved one’s face on the news. It is a hope that will take time – there is simply one rule, use words not violence.