Keep the Faith

I Want You to Know

Sitting in Geometry class, I am overcome with anger. I want to lash out at those people who called you sell outs. I want to punch the kids who said you've forgotten the reason why you started the band in the first place, but I refrain because you taught me that violence is never the answer.

The anger subsides and I am overcome with another feeling: sadness. It grieves me and makes my heart hurt to hear people say these awful things about you. I know you're strong, and I know you try your best to ignore the negative comments, but I also know that even heroes can fall. I know how much you love us, your fans, and I can't immagine how it feels to hear the awful things people who once claimed to be your fans have said. Tears well up in my eyes and I want to cry until I can cry no more at the thought of you - the one who understood me when no one else could, the one who promised me I wasn't alone when I was in my darkest hour - in pain.

One question sticks out among all the others that are jumbled in my mind: why? Why would people who used to scream your name at the top of their lungs when they saw you, people who used to call you their heroes, their saviors, their light at the end of the tunnel, people who were not ashamed to say they loved you with everything they were, why would these people say now that you've sold out, that you're back on the bottle and drugs, that you've forgotten the reason you started this band, that you no longer care about your fans, that you're not the person you used to be, that you're not the band you used to be?

I don't know any of these answers, but I do know one thing, and I want you to know too.

No Matter how many negative comments you hear, no matter how many fans you lose, no matter how many people think you've sold out, you will always have people who love you, and you will always be a hero in my heart as well as the hearts of many others. I'm telling you this because I love you and because you helped me through some of the hardest times in my life, and I want to help you in return. I want to encourage you, just like you did me.

So, to the five people who have inspired me and helped me through more things than they will ever know, Gerard Way, Frank Iero, Mikey Way, Ray Toro, and Bob Bryar, thank you.

Keep your heads up and never let them take you alive!