I recently started reading Karen Kingsbury’s new book Chasing Sunsets. It’s the second book in her new series Angels Walking and so far I’m in love with the story line.
If I’m completely honest with you, I haven’t read a book of hers (and I’ve read many) that I haven’t liked. Her single novels and her series are phenomenal.
But as I was saying…
Back to Chasing Sunsets, this novel is based on two individuals who live in Los Angeles. One of the individuals recently opened up a youth center in the middle of a broken community where two gangs run the streets.
In this novel, as I don’t want to give much away, a lot of violence happens as you can imagine when a gang is involved. As I’ve been reading through this novel, the experiences that certain individuals go through have torn at my heart as I couldn’t imagine ever having to deal with a situation quite like theirs.
You see, I was born in a very small town in New York. Just to give you a glimpse of exactly how small it was, we weren’t even called a town. My hometown was and still is today known as The Village of Sandy Creek. There is one school (that I know of) in the entire village. K-12. When I say everyone knows everyone, it’s crazy how quickly word gets around in a small town. Sandy Creek is living proof of that! But Sandy Creek was also a well rounded community where everyone felt safe in.
When I was 12, I moved to Conyers, GA with my family. Now I can’t speak for this community now as a lot has changed over the years, but 11 years ago, this was a nice community. You could hang outside after dark and not be afraid of who would come walking into your yard. You could leave your car doors and house doors unlocked without fearing that someone would break in. Unfortunately, this community isn’t what it was 11 years ago and taking precautions is necessary now.
With that being said, this community is NOwhere near what the Los Angeles community is like in Karen Kingsbury’s book Chasing Sunsets.
Gang violence has never been a problem in any community that I’ve lived in. It just hasn’t but that doesn’t mean I care any less about it because it doesn’t affect me personally. I do care.
I work with children. I adore children. No matter the age of a child, I care deeply for them.
I try to see potential in every child that crosses my path in life. As you’ll learn from being around children, each child possesses a gift that is specific to them. Whether they can argue up a storm (lawyer) or can talk you into anything (sales rep), each child has a gift or talent that they can use in life to better theirselves if given the opportunity to.
Even gang members!
Unfortuantely, most young children and teenagers join gangs because they sincerely believe that’s the only place they belong in the world. They truly believe that those other gang members are the only family they’ve got. And sadly, that’s probably the only thing they’ve ever known. Their parents most likely were in a gang and they want to follow in their footsteps.
To you and I, that would not be our first choice. We’re surrounded by family and friends who love us. They most likely don’t have the same support group as we do. But I couldn’t imagine not having my family and friends around and I most definitely couldn’t imagine giving my life for people who wouldn’t do the same for me.
I don’t know much about gang families but I do know the second you’re out (killed/dead), you’re replaced with another indivudal. Another person whose fate is sealed as long as they’re in the gang.
Why would anyone want to put their life at stake for people who could replace you in a matter of seconds if needed? It just doesn’t seem like it’s worth the risks at the end of the day.
Not to mention, every life is precious and to die fighting over trivial things such as street cred or territory seems like such a loss.
These young individuals could grow up to be amazing individuals if and when given the right opportunities. But even without the opportunities, avoiding the gang life all together could still give you a chance at a better life. But you’d never know if you never give it a chance.
To me, loss isn’t something I’ve had to deal with but I can imagine how exhausting it must be to feel as if the weight of the world is on your shoulders after losing someone near to you. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be someone close to you. It breaks my heart to hear of anyone passing but especially young children and teenagers who had their entire lives ahead of them only to have it cut short.
How can children and teenagers go through their day to day knowing that part of their job as a gang member is to hurt or kill other indivudals their age? Unless their hearts are made out of steel, that must take a toll on them at some point in time.
I realize most of those individuals are hard asses who don’t think before they do something. They act impulsively and don’t worry about the consequences that are to come but they always do and they must take a toll.
I just don’t understand why it’d be worth it in the end? So much bleed is shed, so much hate is shared amongst each other and yet that’s life for many individuals. That’s every day life for some and they go about their days as if that life chose them.
The sad part is that the life they’re living didn’t choose them. They chose that life and once you’ve chosen that life, it’s hard to come out alive.
I wish for every child to be given the change to choose a different life. A life full of love and positive guidance and a life that lacks hatred and negativity!
So if there’s a teen out there or a young child that seems like they’re looking for somewhere to belong, even if there aren’t gangs in your community, I encourage you to reach out to them. They are given many opportunities on a daily basis and not all of them are positive. Be a light in their lives and help encourage them to live a life that is worth living because at the end of the day, there’s more to life outside of violence and hatred. You just have to be given the chance to find it.
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