Chapter 7: “Favorites”

            To Write Love on Her Arms is my favorite nonprofit organization. It was created by Jamie Tworkowski to help people deal with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. What started the organization was a story titled the same as the origination that Jamie wrote about a girl named Renee Yohe. From that story, from Renee’s struggle with addiction, self harm, and depression, many lives were changed, and so many lives were saved. Six years later they produced a movie tilted ‘Renee’ that comes out in the fall of 2012. I recently went to a special early showing of that movie in April, with my sister and father. They both knew about TWLOHA and Renee’s story, but I don’t think they were invested in it as much as I was. I had dealt with depression and self harm, but thankfully by the grace of God, I got through it and am now not struggling with those things. The movie was incredible. It was so inspiring and full of hope and honest things that needed to be said and seen. It was partly entertaining and partly informative, which was good for the people who needed to learn or see hope and rescue, and it was also good for the entertainment value. Music is a big part of my life and TWLOHA’s organization. Many bands have been seen wearing their apparel and have been heard speaking about TWLOHA and with that, they had three brilliant performances in the movie. Travie McCoy, Between the Trees and Paper Route all preformed very well in the movie as they sang their songs that were full of hope. Between the Trees had a tie into the movie, besides being a good band, because the band’s manager, David McKenna, was a big part of Renee’s story, and he ended up being a main character in the movie. After the movie both producers, including McKenna, were there to answer any questions the audience had, and that was one of my favorite parts of the whole night. We were able to get to know how long the movie took to make, what it was like making and working with Renee and Jamie, and if certain parts were even real or just for entertainment purposes. My dad ended up asking how they planned to get this movie out to the kids who really needed to see it, who probably don’t have the money or access to one, because their living on the streets or just cant afford it. McKenna and his co producer answered it as best they could but he ended up giving my dad his card to email him if something came up in the future and if there was an opportunity for my dad to help out in some way. I know there wasn’t a dry eye in that theater as the credits started to roll and for my dad to be moved to tears is a pretty big deal, considering I’ve ever only seen or heard of him crying a handful of times. I can’t wait to go see the movie again when it actually primers in theaters.

            Sushi is one of my favorite foods and spending time with my cousin, Chanel, is one of my favorite things to do. The summer of my junior year I took two college classes at Union University, and after I finished my finals, Chanel and I celebrated at Sakura. We both got the Alfredo roll, the best in my opinion. It was a magical experience. I love sushi but I’ve never had better sushi; my theory on that is because that day was so good, I was done with everything, got good grades and was celebrating with my cousin, all the stress was gone, and I was in Tennessee, my favorite place on earth.

            I love music. It’s probably one of my all time favorite things, and one of my all time favorite artists is Mat Kearney. I’ve probably been listening to him since I was a freshman and I’ve probably seen him perform five times through out high school. One of my favorite times I’ve seen him was when my mom surprised me with a ticket for her and I to see him at a special small acoustic show at a radio station. You had to enter to win these tickets and you could enter as many times as you wanted, so my mom decided to enter just once and if she won, we’d go but if she didn’t she wouldn’t have even told me about it and that was that. She entered and won and we got to go. The radio station provided lunch as we sang along off key and out of tune. At the end I got to meet Mat and take a picture, he even signed a poster that the radio station provided us. It was one of my favorite days, with my mom and one of my favorite artist’s; nothing could have made it better.

   One of my favorite things to attend is a wedding. My oldest sister, Skyler, got married in September and I was able to be a part of it. They are beautiful, magical and so much fun. The bonding of two people like that is amazing to me and I’m glad I got to witness it. The excitement was overwhelming in the dressing room where all the bridesmaids were waiting anxiously. One thing that made me love this wedding more than anything else, besides it being my sisters, was the music Skyler selected. All of the bridesmaids walked down the isle to Cosmic Love by Florence & The Machine and the Maid of Honor, Lauren, walked in at the perfect moment when the song stopped abruptly, and then had its big crescendo. I got to walk back down the isle after Richard and Skyler said their “I do’s” with one of Richard’s handsome mates, Watto. At the reception I got to dance with a couple handsome guys, Spencer, and my best friend; I had two left feet. It was a beautiful ceremony and a wonderful reception, with too many drinks, tears, and so much dancing.