"I wanted to share with you guys something that my mother did when I was
about 14 that still to this day makes my heart swell with love and
pride.
Most of you know that I grew up in the Midwest, I am an
only child and was encouraged at an early age to be what ever I wanted
to be. My parents supported everything I ever did...and when I wanted to
go to school wearing 3 inch lime green creepers and matching eyeshadow
all my dad would tell me is "if you want to look that way and it makes
you comfortable then we support you..however you have to learn to defend
yourself because out there the world is full of people who will not
understand you in the way that we do and they will do everything in
their power to hurt you, call you names, or simply bring you down". My
parents taught me that our home was a "bubble" meaning that no matter
what happened to any of us in our day to day lives..when we all came
home and were a family NOTHING could effect us within the context of
that "bubble". This very notion is what shaped my concept for BVB, I
wanted to create a world wide "bubble" for those who felt like me...an
outcast..so that when you listen to our record or come to one of our
shows you feel just as safe and loved as I did at 13 sitting in my bed
room listening to the Misfits and dreaming of the day I'd be on stage.
This
brings me to what I wanted to share with you all...one shining example
among many of our families strength and love outside of our "bubble"
My
mother works for the childrens hospital in Cincinnati Ohio and as a
part of her job she is required to (like in many jobs) attend yearly
training seminars that take place outside of the office and are meant to
help shape the employees work skills, social skills, etc.
One of the
main draws of these seminars are the "key note speakers" people that
are supposed "experts" in their field and are there to share their
knowledge over the course of an hour long speech and power point
presentation (sound familiar? haha)
Anyway, one day my mother
attended one of these speeches that was being done by a middle aged man.
He was your typical Midwestern 50 something year old man..lots of
rhetoric...plenty of bias, you know haha
His speech was on dealing with people in the workplace in a kind and respectful manner regardless of the situation.
He began to tell a story about he and his wife having dinner with a few friends in an applebees, the story went as follows:
"and
my wife and I were sitting there and suddenly this kid walks in and I
started to bust out laughing, I mean he had the spikey pink and black
hair..the makeup, piercings...tattoos, just so silly...and my dear
wife..she is more kind than I..she hushed me and said "honey you
shouldn't laugh...don't you know that boy is just some mothers heart
break? I mean LOOK at him".
Not another word had passed before my other stood up and firmly said "That boy was my son"
"what? Oh I had no idea...I'm sorry" the speaker said.
My mother then replied
"No
you don't understand, that boy may not have been my son, but what you
just described..that boy represents my son, my beautiful son whom I am
so very proud of.
He is the furthest thing from "heartbreak" he is
kind and talented and loving. He has a dream that he will follow and I
will support him every step of the way. He may not want to dress like
you or your wife sir, but I promise you that my boy and every other
child who is a "freak" to you is the apple of their mothers eye"
She then walked away.
She
called me and told me everything that had happened, and I (as I am now)
began to tear up and have a overwhelming rush of happiness and love
come over me.
I was loved in a way I could never describe and even
though I has always known my parents loved me...I was hearing proof that
no matter what...I was safe.
The reason I wanted to share this
with you is I feel as if sometimes the outside world (and even for some
of you your OWN families) try to convince you that you are not
loved..that you are not special. This is simply untrue.
Each and
every one of us has a flame inside of us, a flame that no one else could
ever extinguish, and if you ever feel alone I want you to remember
this...as my mother and father did for me...Black Veil Brides will stand
strong for you, we will take on the worlds hatred so that you don't
have to.
Live your life..listen to your music way too loud, be as
crazy and as "different" as you want to be and always remember you're
not alone.
Thanks for reading my little story...I hope it helped some of you
above all else I hope maybe now you have a little greater understanding of why this band..and it's message means so much to me.
to my parents Chris (Brock) and Amy, thank you for teaching me what love truly is.
Never Give In,
Andy"
