R.I.P.
Poetic Tributes
Published on 26. November 2014
62 pages
978-1-5035-1715-8 (ISBN)
Description
R.I.P. is a compilation of poetic tributes for young people who died between 20092014.
Some of them died accidental deaths through drowning, car accidents; however, sadly most of them died because of the senseless violence on Chicago streets and some neighboring cities. The ideal is to pay tribute to their lives. I hope that these tributes about each individual show how much they were loved before tragically dying. I hope it will bring some comfort.
Through making these tributes, I hope to memorialize them. Each individual has a different story. I noticed that when someone was murdered, their loved ones paid tribute to them by putting flowers, candles, teddy bears, and letters with messages of (R.I.P.) Rest in Peace. They didnt want anybody to forget how their loved one died. They didnt want anybody to forget their names or those left behind of family and friends who loved them. Some were deaths that caused a lot of controversy in which politicians and ministers got involved. These young people are not the well-known youths who have remained forthright in the news for lengthy periods. The idea of these tributes is to say You will never be forgotten.
These young people had families, dreams, aspirations, and futures that were cut short. This is condolences to families possibly still grieving the loss of their loved ones.
Though poetically done, I do not, by any means, take their deaths lightly. Each of them brought tears to my eyes. One of those young men (Michael Patton) died on the street in the rain. A stranger came out of his home along with his wife to comfort and assist him. I read about it and thought that it was too sad and decided not to write about him. However, one night as I was about to go to sleep, I clearly heard someone say I didnt die alone. I tried to ignore it, but I kept hearing it until I got up and wrote a tribute that I called I Didnt Die Alone.
So yes, sometimes I heard them speak to me spiritually. They will not be forgotten.
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Genevieve was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. She attended school in the fifties and sixties. She had three children, a daughter Jennean and two sons Allan and Eric. She also has six grandchildren and two great grandchildren. She discovered at an early age that she had a unique writing ability. She had a gift to not only write poems but to poetically be able to describe people or situations. She described all of her children's attributes physically while describing each of their personalities. She didn't realize that this very gift would be utilized toward friends and relatives and for complete strangers whom sometimes asked would she pay tribute to their loved ones poetically. She believes this is how R.I.P. was born. She was mortified by the violence and young lives lost but began to write about them from 2009 until 2014. Of course all are not included. That would have been impossible.
Also included are individuals who drowned and others who did not succumb to violence on the street but still will be missed by their family and friends.
She remembers being mortified by the old westerns where one gunslinger challenged another to a shootout and they both ended up counting down until one of them got shot and killed. She used to think thank God I'm not living in those times. Then in the seventies she became aware of gang presence in Chicago. Then in 2008 it escalated. She decided to publish a book of tributes to their lives. However, it was so many deaths she couldn't keep up with them. It became overwhelmingly sad to observe the violence on Chicago streets and she focused on the some and could not write tributes for all of them. She hopes to one day be able to include others in a second book.
Genevieve works for the Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago and lives in a relatively quiet area in a condo on the south side of Chicago. She is a line dancer. She is an avid reader and homebody.
