Danet’s “saved by MCR” story
Hi, my name is Danet, and if you could, I wanted to share my story with anyone that would listen. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
I’m 13 years old MCR defiantly saved my life more than once. When I was younger, my sister used to listen to MCR and I remember that the first time I ever heard them was when I watched the Helena music video with my sister. I loved it even thought I was so young. I remember watching a lot of MCR videos with her. But after a while, she got into other bands and I forgot about MCR. After all, I wasn’t old enough to really know what they were talking about when they sang songs like Famous Last Words and I’m Not Okay. I had a pretty okay life through 5th grade. My parents fought a lot though and my dad treated my sister like shit. One night, my parents got into a huge fight. And I mean huge. The cops ended up coming to our house. The whole time my sister sat in my room with me while I cried. She stuck by me and I loved her for it. My parents decided on a divorce and it hit me hard because I was so close to my dad. My mum, sister, and I ended up moving out of state to live with my grandparents. Now, at first, everything was okay. Yeah, I had things like “Emo” and “Freak” thrown at me, but I tried to ignore it. When I went into middle school, things got really bad. I was constantly called Emo, freak, and weird, anything you can think of. People constantly asked if I was emo and I always said no. But it just got to be too much and I started cutting myself around 7th grade. I just felt so alone and just plain scared. No one understood me or even wanted to try. My sister shut herself up and pushed everyone away, my so called dad acted like he didn’t give a shit and never paid child support, never talked to us, and went on vacations to Italy with the money that was supposed to be feeding us. This is where My Chem really starts to come into my life. I was looking through Fuse one day and saw a loaded episode on My Chemical Romance. I remembered the name and thought: Hey, I’ll listen to these guys again. So I recorded it and the next day watched it. It went through the song Welcome To The Black Parade and I remembered that. Then it started playing Famous Last Words and I remembered that one too so I started kind of humming along. Then it got to the chorus. I just stopped singing. I just sat there staring at the screen. It felt like I was hearing the song for the first time. I can’t even describe how it made me feel. I just cried. Because, for once, I felt like somebody understood me, I felt like somebody cared. I didn’t feel alone. And since then, I stopped cutting myself and I stopped all of self-harm. I made a promise. I literally said aloud, “I swear to you Gerard, I will never hurt myself again. No matter what.” Now MCR helps me through all of my hard situations. No matter how bad it is, all I have to do is think about something Gee, Frank, Bob, Mikey, or Ray said and I feel so much better. My friends turned to the ‘popular’ life and called me names, I thought of what Gee said “Hey Girls, you are beautiful.” I felt better. My grandparents turned out to be something I hate most (Homophobias), and I almost did something I would regret, but I thought about the song Teenagers and I just walked away. My mum started to try and change who I was, I just thought of how MCR wasn’t afraid to be MCR and I felt better. In a way, MCR had taught me all of those cliché life rules. Don’t do drugs, violence is not the answer, all of it I learned from MCR. And I’m proud of it. One of my friends asked me what I want to do before I die, my reply: “I want to meet My Chemical Romance and say ‘thank you’.” And I swear, one day I’m going to meet them and tell them thank you for giving me my life back.
Misery…
My brother just died. I’m sure you are wondering why I am on here writing this now at a time like this, and honestly it’s because the only thing getting me through the night (it’s midnight here) is knowing I have My Chem to curl up and listen to.
I mentioned on here last year that my brother had Cystic Fibrosis and was waiting for a double lung transplant. He got that miracle last year and my comfort now is knowing that at least for one year of his life he was able to breathe normally. Tonight he died from an infection. Just a few days ago we had dinner together, and I remember him standing in the kitchen, leaning against the countertop laughing about how he was already done Christmas shopping plus had already wrapped everything. Just a few days ago he was smiling and alive and happy. That’s how quick shit happens. A few days ago we were planning Christmas dinner, talking about landscaping our yard in spring and he was playing with my kids and my niece and nephews.
Gone. Forever.
You know what… I have been through a lot of shit the past year, including nearly 6 months of hate mail and death threats from fellow My Chem fans about the Umbrella Academy ordeal. I chose to not lash out and to not say anything more on the issue, even to correct incorrect information. It isn’t worth it. You want to know why I do this… continue this through all the shit? It’s because there will always be shit. There will always be someone who is wrong, someone who doesn’t agree and some times that you wished you had said or done things differently. That is what life is. A string of shit happening in your life. What makes all the shit worth going through is the times in between. It’s those moments that are so wonderful that none of the shit can take the memory of that wonderful moment away. I get those wonderful moments doing this blog. Hearing the stories of people who were helped by this band and knowing that no matter what shit happens, the band always has been and always will be (in my belief) for the purpose of being there for us in these times of hardship.
Tonight it is Gerard, Frank, Mikey, Ray and Bob who are going to get me through this shit time. These five guys I have never met and will probably never meet are going to be the best friends I’ve ever had. Tonight they understand me. Tonight they get it, they’ve been there. They have been through this shit, and they carried on. Shit happens. It hurts, but shit happens every damn day.
My brother was… still is… my hero. He wasn’t supposed to reach the age of four. He made it to 34. He made his own path in life. When people said it couldn’t be done, he laughed as he accomplished it. When people said something was too difficult, he rolled his eyes and accomplished it in a way that made it look easy. When people said he shouldn’t, he did it anyway just to piss them off. He did it all with a personality that made everyone that met him fall in love with him. Animals loved him, children adored him and people of all ages were inspired by him.
I used to describe my brother to people who had never met him as someone that didn’t let the world make him, he made the world. I think really that’s what My Chem and it’s fans are all about. Don’t ever let anyone make you think you have to do it their way. When they say it can’t be done, laugh as you accomplish it. When they say it’s too difficult, roll your eyes and make it look easy. When they say you shouldn’t do it, do it just to piss them off. Be you, be strong, and above all be happy and appreciative and every moment you have on this earth to do those things. Eventually, shit happens. Until then, make every possible moment a wonderful memory to cherish and get you through the shit times.
I’m off to be comforted by some MCR.
Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet by Joanne Proulx
A book to recommend…. Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet by Joanne Proulx
This isn’t technically MCR related, however it does connect in a way. Gerard has mentioned his favorite book is Catcher in the Rye and Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet definantly can be (and has been) considered this generation’s Catcher in the Rye.
When seventeen-year-old Luke Hunter foretells the death of his friend with freakish accuracy, his life gets complicated. Everyone in Stokum, Michigan, his rank little pinprick of a hometown, knows about the premonition and wants to know more. But Luke holds everyone—the local news crew, his parents, his buddy Fang—at arm’s length, telling no one that the death premonitions keep happening. Terrified, he lurches through a personal minefield studded with previously unconsidered existential ponderings, Christian fundamentalists, and a dream girl who his dead friend left behind. Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet is a darkly comic coming-of-age novel that nails contemporary youth culture.
Gabriel Bá/ The Umbrella Academy original art for sale
You can now buy original art by Gabriel Bá and his brother Fábio Moon! Page and cover art from projects such as Casanova, The Umbrella Academy and Sugar Shock.
For pages of Gabriel Ba:
http://www.beguiling.com/artproductlist.asp?ID=79
For pages of Fabio Moon:
GerArt – The fanart of Gerard Way / My Chemical Romance – I’m Not Okay string tribute
A great video showing some of the fantastic fanart of Gerard Way.