Introducing Dallan Wright: "Please don't ever grow up."

Have you ever wondered...Who is DW? Well today is your lucky day.

I've invited DW, also known as Dallan Wright, to be a guest on my blog. Listen up. Because here is what he has to say.

Today, it is my greatest pleasure to have the amazing opportunity to write for the wonderful Jenna as a part of her fantastic blog. I am Dallan Michael Wright. I am a son, brother, writer and friend to a few and it has been my delight to have grown close to Jenna over the past couple years. It brings sorrow to my soul to think that my charismatic friend, Jenna DeGering, will be graduating in a few short weeks. I know this time in an individual’s life can be very stressful and often over whelming as the reality begins to settle that they are “all grown up.”  

Now, I am not so ignorant to think that after graduating from University that growth ceases and we become stagnant. But, in the mind of a soon to be graduate, I can imagine that they feel like this is last big step in their development into adulthood. I want to express to Jenna and all the graduates this year or for years to come, that we should never feel “all grown up.” I am not referring to the Peter Pan version of the sentiment of never growing old, but instead I want to compel all those who read this to always keep your sense of innocence intact.  

Never forget the nights you stayed up till the sun began to light the sky again, just because you couldn’t tear your eyes away from a special friends’ loving gaze. Don’t be so quick to forget the magic in lying around in sweats all weekend just because you felt like you “deserved it.” Remember what it’s like to live off ramen or eat ice cream by the carton. Mentally freeze frame the excitement that came with finding out who was in your new classes and whether or not the one good looking guy or gal would sit next to you. And always stop late at night to go outside, lay on the grass and stare up at the stars, pondering the universe’s secrets.  

So to Jenna and all those moving on from your university experience… Graduate, but please don’t ever grow up.

 

Hatred will not have the final word.

I woke up this morning at 4 am. I couldn't sleep. I didn't sleep. I think it's because my heart is heavy. And I kept having mini dreams that I was experiencing mourning for so many people. People that I didn't know. People I would never know. The police officer's wife. His little girl. The mother of the bomber. The sister of the missing college student. The man who lost both of his legs. The 12 families who are missing a loved one in Texas.

Tragedy. That word. Suffering. Grief. Sadness. Catastrophe. Loss. That word.

Why is it when tragedy hits so far away from home, I feel as if it is in my own backyard?

It happens so often, and I have such a hard time dealing with it. I don't really show or tell people all that much. I don't know why. I should. But I don't. I guess I disconnect myself with those emotions outside of my bedroom, because maybe, just maybe, if I don't show it, it won't happen to me.

I am 21 years old. I have lived for only twenty one years. And yet I feel as if I have seen so much tragedy in my young life. I remember the Unabomber, or at least talking about it. I was five. I was scared to go to school in second grade because of the Columbine Massacre. I cried for days after 9/11. And the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary left me numb. All of the events this week have left me numb again.

But I think I hit a turning point last night. My good friend Dallan invited me to watch a play on campus. The Women of Lockerbie, it is called. A tragedy written by Deborah Brevoort. The play is a historical dramatization of the aftermath of the Lockerbie bombing of 1988. A powerful dramatization.

I cried. I felt sorrow and pain. I briefly mourned for the fictional characters with a true story. I connected their story with the people suffering today. And instead of numb, I became responsive. The theme of the play is powerful.

“When evil comes into the world, it is the job of the witness to turn it to love.”

This is what I have thought about since 4 AM.

Choose love over hatred. Change hatred into love. I've witnessed so much tragedy in last 21 years. And it is my our responsibility to choose love over hatred. To help repair the damage and heal the broken hearts. To serve one another. To remember the lives of those who died. To find the strength to do what we must do. Of course I will never know what it feels like to lose someone I love so dearly in such a tragic way. I have never had to pick of the pieces of my life and start over. I want to make it clear that I don't equate my trials to such tragedy. They are different for me than they are for anyone. But let me also be clear that I have a responsibility to make sure that "hatred will not have the final word." As Olive Allison in the Women of Lockerbie made sure that hatred did not have the final word. Love is stronger than the bonds of hate and bitterness. And because I have witnessed the pain of other, even from across the country, I have a responsibility to love.

We all have our reasons to choose love over hatred.

I choose love over hatred because I know my Heavenly Father loves me and loves all of his children.  I choose love over hatred because the person next to me is my brother or my sister. I choose love over hatred because people take care of me when I am weak. I choose love over hatred because I have been blessed with a loving family, and they have taught me to choose love. I choose love over hatred because I am human, and I am connected with each human on this planet. I choose love over hatred because hatred will not have the final word.

Tragedy will always occur. But love will always abide. So in my therapeutic efforts to mourn for those who are dealing with that word, I ask you to love. To serve. To be kind to one another. To put forth any and every effort you can to make sure that hatred does not have the final word.