Reggie Dabbs - Just Keep Breathing: A Shocking Expose of Letters You Never Imagined a Generation Would Write

2016 Reggie Dabbs and John Driver

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by W Publishing Group, an imprint of Thomas Nelson.

Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

The stories told in this book are based on true events, but there are certain names, persons, characters, places, and dates that have been changed so that the persons and characters portrayed bear no resemblance to persons actually living or dead. Names and facts from stories contained in this book have been changed, but the emotional and sexual struggles are true as related to the author through personal interviews, letters, or e-mails. Permission has been granted for the use of real names and correspondence.

ISBN 9780718079208 (eBook)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Dabbs, Reggie.

Title: Just keep breathing : a shocking expose of real letters you never imagined a generation was writing / Reggie Dabbs and John Driver.

Description: Nashville : W Publishing Group, an imprint of Thomas Nelson, 2016.

Identifiers: LCCN 2015024785 | ISBN 9780718077198 (trade paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Bullying in schoolsUnited States. | Dabbs, ReggieCorrespondence.

Classification: LCC LB3013.32 D33 2016 | DDC 371.5/8dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015024785

16 17 18 19 20 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

Ebook Instructions

In this ebook edition, please use your devices note-taking function to record your thoughts wherever you see the bracketed instructions [Your Notes].

Throughout my life i have been beaten by foster parents, by familys boyfriends, by people I dont even know. I grew up in pure hell and torture. I lost my mom for 5 years due to her love for alcohol and not her own kids.

I have been bullied and sexually harrassed.

I have been kidnapped and raped.

Madison

My boyfriend and his little brother and friend killed thmself. It will be 2 years ago tomarrow. I get abused and hurt so much, no one cares.

Rachel

When I turned 12 years old, I was initiated into a gang.... Theyre looking for me and want to kill me, but I guess its what I deserve, right?

Carlos

Thank you so much for making me stop and think for a minute. Because to be honest with you, I was planning on leaving everything behind. When i woke up friday morning, i decided that i was done. And Friday after school, nobody was going to have to deal with me anymore.

Lauren

On Your Mark...

These are but a few snippets from letters contained in the pages to come. They are real, and they are worth your time. However, we really believe you need to understand who we are and why we are doing this before diving into the letters. Thanks for giving us just a few pages to set the stage for what is to come.

SHOES

Right now, somewhere on this planet, the soles of an unknown pair of shoes just touched the hot pavement outside an unsuspecting school. Right foot. Left foot. Step after fateful step, they move in stride toward a glass-laden door... a door separating the outside world from our very hearts. For inside this building is the breathing core of all we cherish and care for most deeply. Inside this school is the next generation.

They are your friends. Your students. Your brother. Your sister. Your childhood sweetheart. The ex-boyfriend you once loved but now hate. Your mom, who is a teacher. Your children. Your husband. They may even be youjust another kid swimming from class to class in a sea of high school humanity.

They are millions of people, and they mean everything to us. That is why these shoes fast approaching the front door of this school are so important. They keep some people up at night with worrydread, the unthinkable, the unknown, the possibility. Thedare I say itprobability of tragedies to come.

In 1998, in Jonesboro, Arkansas, the shoes were sneakers of two young boys, eleven and thirteen years old, who pulled a fire alarm to lure hundreds of innocent students and teachers out of the school doors and into their crosshairs. Five kids and one teacher died. In 1999, at Columbine High School in Colorado, the shoes were combat boots of two teenagers geared up with assault rifles who gunned down thirteen people.

And in 2012, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, the shoes were familiarfilled by the son of one of the victims. Twenty-six people, most of them very young children, lost their precious lives that horrific day. These are not even close to a full list of all the tragedies that have happened on school grounds, even if they are the most recognizable ones.

Right now somewhere on this planet, the soles of an unknown pair of shoes just touched the hot pavement outside an unsuspecting school.

But the truth is this book is not really about school violence or the tragedies that exist inside the schools. It is actually a life-sized glimpse into the realities that exist inside the people, many of whom we have met in schools.

Just to make a point though, the truth remains that each of these violent school tragedies began with a pair of shoes laced upon feet walking an intentional path toward a door. And each day, each of us wonders what shoesand what kind of people filling themare walking toward the door. We have so much to lose. So much to dread. Today is no different.

That pair of shoes on the hot pavement is still walking toward those glass doors. This is not a drill or a metaphor. I mean this quite literally. As you read these words, this is happeningright now.

These particular shoes are size thirteen. They are laced onto the feet of a man dressed in dark clothes, mid- to late forties. He pushes the button outside the door, ringing his request to enter. The front office assistant looks through the window. He is a large black man with a shaved head and gray goatee. And he is carrying a small, narrow case in his hand.

She pushes the button to unlock the door and the intimidating man waltzes right past security with no resistance. He is now in the middle of our hearts. Right where so much damage has been done. So much tragedy inflicted.

His plan is obviously premeditated. He immediately walks to where the largest group of students is gathered. They are loud, unassuming, and unaware of what is about to happen. The man pauses and unzips the case. He reaches inside and pulls out something long, shiny, and metallic. He stands before the students and points the object directly at them.

They dont stand a chance. His weapon of choice: a tenor saxophone. His name: Reggie Dabbs.

Reggies shoes have walked on every continent over the past twenty-five years, and what he has seen and heard on his long journey into your backyard is nothing short of shocking. He walks into our schools because he is invited to share his incredible story with millions of people. We figure it is high time that you hear their stories as well.

It is time to explore our own backyards. These are just a few of their real stories.

HOW FACEBOOK BECAME OUR BOOK

My name is John Driver, and the words you are about to read will be unique, to say the least. Working as a public school teacher, a community youth mentor, and in various counseling roles, the past fifteen years have brought across my path some incredible and often tragic stories. But few stories have ever affected me more than the story of my good friend Reggie.