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'Children just need to be loved,' parents say after transgender son's suicide
'Children just need to be loved,' parents say after transgender son's suicide
Updated on June 2, 2017 at 1:42 PM Posted on June 2, 2017 at 6:15 AM
BY CAROL ROBINSON crobinson@al.com
Erin and Matt Georgia thought they'd seen the worst life has to offer when they went to war as U.S. Marines.
Maybe the worst was the slow, cancerous death of Erin's father, whom she helped cared for in his last days. Quite possibly, the worst was the past 1 1/2 years as they watched the oldest of their three children struggle with depression and anxiety and identity.
Or so they thought, until about 5 a.m. Thursday, May 25, when they found their 13-year-old transgender son, Jay Griffin, dead from suicide in the bedroom of his Trussville home.
It was a shock. They didn't see it coming. But Erin and Matt are determined to not let Jay's death define his life, or theirs. In the midst of their devastation is faith, and hope for change. "I don't know if this going to be the worst and I never look forward to the worst times in my life, but I look forward to the strength and the person I will become because of this,'' Erin said in an extensive interview with Al.com, "because I am dead set on being the absolute best person I can be in this life, and showing that God's love shines through us all."
And there is also a message: "It is because of his bright spirit and personal struggles that many lives have been changed and many more questions will be pondered. Unprompted, Jay would tell them to challenge what they think they know, and to discuss all perspectives."
Updated on June 2, 2017 at 1:42 PM Posted on June 2, 2017 at 6:15 AM
BY CAROL ROBINSON crobinson@al.com
Erin and Matt Georgia thought they'd seen the worst life has to offer when they went to war as U.S. Marines.
Maybe the worst was the slow, cancerous death of Erin's father, whom she helped cared for in his last days. Quite possibly, the worst was the past 1 1/2 years as they watched the oldest of their three children struggle with depression and anxiety and identity.
Or so they thought, until about 5 a.m. Thursday, May 25, when they found their 13-year-old transgender son, Jay Griffin, dead from suicide in the bedroom of his Trussville home.
It was a shock. They didn't see it coming. But Erin and Matt are determined to not let Jay's death define his life, or theirs. In the midst of their devastation is faith, and hope for change. "I don't know if this going to be the worst and I never look forward to the worst times in my life, but I look forward to the strength and the person I will become because of this,'' Erin said in an extensive interview with Al.com, "because I am dead set on being the absolute best person I can be in this life, and showing that God's love shines through us all."
And there is also a message: "It is because of his bright spirit and personal struggles that many lives have been changed and many more questions will be pondered. Unprompted, Jay would tell them to challenge what they think they know, and to discuss all perspectives."
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