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by Jerry Hicks (Author)
I chose my title, I Am a Child, a Boy, and a Man: Stolen Innocence (A Search for Hope, the Need for Faith), due to my clear ability to see through the eyes of who I was at each stage of my life. It has been very, very tough to see through the eyes of that child and the boy that I was and not be able to save or help them. I have learned to heal because of those two; their pain, suffering, and loss have given me the need and hope to fight and never give up or stop screaming out to the world to be heard-for those two, I must. The first dark shade from my cover represents my childhood-much pain, fear, suffering, and darkness. The second shade, gray, represents age twelve through twenty-five, not as dark as my childhood but very much lost, confused, and filled with fear and rage about all things in life. I was still suffering with every choice and decision I made in my young life, living and reacting by emotion and not intellect. The third shade is the lightest shade; this is my older adult life. I am so far gone from those first two lives of mine-not at all forgotten, but I am healing, learning, changing and growing every day. My hope now as an older adult is to be heard with the hope that many will be saved and not ignored-that people will wake up to this lifelong crime of destruction. One moment of betrayal can last an entire lifetime. The hope for people to start hearing and seeing the signs and calls for help by these children who are scared, confused, and frightened and needing for the adults and family in their lives to wake up and see what's happening. Not only to wake up and see but also to take immediate action and put an end to this crime as well as justice being served for that child. Never forgive and forget. We shouldn't have to pay for our love with our bones and our flesh.
