Another AC essay, and since today is To Write Love On Her Arms day, I thought I would share it.
Every year on November 12, over 240,000 people write one word on their forearm. Love, along with sayings such as “stop the bleeding” or “rescue is possible” cover the arms of thousands of young people all over the world. Most people do this because they support one, if not two things. By writing a word or slogan on their arms, they show they support love and the organization To Write Love On Her Arms. Against many false beliefs about this organization, they do not perform in front of adoring audiences or entertain in any way. These participants simply share that love that the founder of the organization showed when he saved the life of a 19-year-old girl. With over 34,000 suicides per year, To Write Love On Her Arms has chosen to prove to the world that love can save lives.
In the summer of 2006, Jamie Tworkowski along with several other friends discovered 19-year-old Renee Yohe. With cocaine fresh in her system, and days without sleep, this girl lived off pot, pills, and her razors. They met with her one night to simply love, pray, and talk with her, trying to convince her to go to a rehabilitation center. She went home and did what she had done for years: cut a curse word deep into her arm, watched the blood hit the floor, and took another drink from the liquor bottle. At the center, Renee heard yet another time that she had no hope and no reason left to live. Once at the rehab center, Renee discovered she must wait five days before entering the program. Tworkowski realized he had five days to keep her alive.
At just 19, Renee knew more about the pain of life than anyone should know, and her friends knew she needed help. After treating her with nothing but pure love, they realized they can do nothing more. Lost as to what to do next, they made shirts with the phrase “To Write Love On Her Arms” written on them. Shortly after that, they made a MySpace page and started a fundraiser to raise the money to help Renee. Anberlin and Switchfoot, two famous bands, quickly responded to the call and started wearing the shirts at concerts. Within weeks, To Write Love On Her Arms became a movement. With Renee safely in rehab, Tworkowski realized the thousands of stories just like Renee’s. Thousands of hurting people who needed help before they too, tried to claim their life.
As Renee climbed out of the car and headed into the treatment center, she smiled and said, “The stars are always there, but we miss them in the dirt and clouds. We miss them in the storms. Tell them to remember hope. We have hope.” Renee chose to stay alive because she knew somewhere out there hope existed. Her friends found her, lost and confused, and taught her that hope no matter how scarce, hope will ever face extinction. She realized that although life hurts, hope could withstand even the fiercest storms.
According to Tworkowski, To Write Love on Her Arms formed by accident, but not by mistake. They have received over 150,000 letters thanking them for saving a life. Renee has told her story to millions around the world at college meetings, churches, and rallies. Her journal also changed the lives of many after To Write Love on Her Arms published it in 2008, entitled “Purpose for the Pain.” After three years she lives free from self-injury, drugs, and depression. Knowing forgiveness has done such a work in her life that her past no longer haunts her and nor does her pain. Now, To Write Love on Her Arms exists to prove that life has a purpose.
To Write Love on Her Arms might not mean a lot to some people, but to others, it means life. Writing love on one’s forearm does not do much, but it does show the belief in love. Love can change one life and one world. Tworkowski once said, “We are only asked to love, to offer hope to the many hopeless. We don’t get to choose all the endings, but we are asked to play the rescuers. We were made to be lovers bold in broken places, pouring ourselves out again and again until we’re called home” Three years later, Renee has gone from carving anger and pain into her arms to writing love on them. Thanks to Jamie and his friends, Renee found life and hope. They changed the lives of thousands of people all by writing out the story of the love of one girl. Renee has a history book carved into her arms, like so many others, but that book has written over itself with love. On her arms, Renee chose to write love.
