Page 329 - Reason To Sing by Kelita Haverland

Chapter Fifty

When I was just eleven
After that day I wrote my first song
It was a gift that I was given

I sing from the depths of my own heartache and loss and
yet my heart swells at the song’s conclusion.

Must have been from heaven
‘Cause look at where I’m standing
I’ve got my feet on the ground
Must have been from heaven
‘Cause I know where I’m goin’
I’ve got my feet on the ground
Oh I’ve got my feet
On the ground

Once the applause dies down, I read from my notes. The
hardest part of my story is next.

“My oldest brother, Jimmy, was a wild child of the 60s.
He was someone who lived on the edge. He was daring
and charismatic. But my brother had a darker side that not
everyone saw. He loved his drugs and he abused many. He took
sexual advantage of me when I was a preschool girl. When he
was 27, he died of a drug overdose. After his death I started
to remember things. This song I wrote about him has helped
to set me free from the shame. It was also the beginning of
finding forgiveness for the innocence he stole from me. It’s
called “Unusual Child.”

So many times I wonder
What Jimmy was all about

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