Little Ghosts
He was a small boy. He was five years old. He loved to play like all small children. He was particularly mischievous. You were so frustrated at him. You had a bad day. You had a few drinks. You didn’t want to be bothered. He said something in a tone you didn’t like. He yelled when you wanted quiet. He broke something after telling him a thousand times not to go into that cabinet or closet or whatever.
All he wanted was your attention. All he wanted was to know that you loved him. All he wanted was a hug. No child has true maliciousness in their heart. That is learned later, from you in most cases.
In his last moments, after you had battered his little head. After you forced him to stand in the cold shower while he shivered did you stop to think? Were you too angry to see? You yelled and got more frustrated that he still wouldn’t listen and you hit him again.
But right before the lights went out and you were still so mad. Right before you took him from this world he was frightened and confused. He was frightened and confused and still loved you. All he wanted still was for you to hug him and call him a good boy.
You were supposed to protect him. You were supposed to love him. And even though you didn’t deserve it, in the final moments of his short little life, he still just wanted you to love him, because he loved you.
R.I.P. A.J. Freund You deserved Better.
There are so many more out there suffering in silence. There are so many adults that could put their hand down and take a deep breath and remember that their children are just that, children.
We can end child abuse. Parent’s I know children can be challenging. Life can be challenging. But all children deserve compassion and love. We can all agree to this. No child is guilty of the sins of their parents. Children don’t have politics that oppose us. Children are the hope of the future. They have the ability to be better than us.
We don’t all start off with the same advantages. A child born into poverty is tragic. But even that child has a chance if they are brought up with compassion and support within their community.
I get it, you don’t have a kid. You don’t want a kid. That person shouldn’t have had a kid in those circumstances. Why should it fall to you to fix someone else’s mistake?
But it’s not the child’s fault either.
And like it or not it becomes our problem when a child grows up in abuse. They are likely to become abusive adults (in whatever form that may take). They are likely to contribute negatively to your community and the cycle will repeat for a new generation.
Have compassion. If you can contribute, contribute. If you see something, say something. Children deserve better. A more compassionate community can ensure that what happened to kids like A.J. doesn’t happen again. It can’t be left to the government.
