Looking forward

Her laughter can be heard from down the hall, her smile seems to be glued to her face, and her hands are used for talking more than anything else as she lets their motions tell her story. Junior Lauren Kirby is the definition of an extrovert. Which is why no one would think that just two years ago, her father nearly broke her jaw in a fit of rage.

“In that moment, I was more scared than anything,” Kirby said, “All I could do was cry for the rest of the day, it was terrifying.”

At the age of fourteen, between school work and extracurricular activities, Kirby attended court-ordered therapy as her mother’s divorce from her abusive, alcoholic father was finalized.

“Whenever things got really bad with my dad, we would sometimes go as a family to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.”

Her mother, however, appeared to be the exact opposite, and wasn’t afraid to step up to the plate when things got rough.

“I have so many good memories with my mom,” Kirby said, “Sometimes, she would even cancel plans so that we could  have a girl’s night or a movie night.”

But last year, while juggling her academic life and issues with her father, Kirby found a way to express the emotions that had been building after years of abuse.

“I originally wrote about him for an English assignment in which the story had to be personal,” Kirby said, “My teacher was impressed by it, and after that, I became more open about him.”

From letters to spoken word poems, Kirby has managed to find a home in the comfort of literature after losing hers to an absent father.

“I wrote this long letter to him, which was more of a story,” Kirby said, “And he never even read it, and that hurt.”

Despite the emotional damage caused by their father, the bond between Kirby and her older sister, Jamie, has only grown stronger.

“It’s made us a lot closer because my sister would take care of me, so it was almost like having a second mom,” Kirby said.

After finding an outlet through writing, Kirby now has a way to look forward, and doesn’t let her past hold her back.

“I’m proud of myself because if I don’t push myself, no one else will,” Kirby said.