Abbie Stillman The Paw Print
Author Wes Moore spoke Friday night to a fairly large audience in the Carson auditorium. He spoke about his upbringing and about the other Wes Moore’s upbringing. They came from the same neighborhood, led a similar life styles yet one is a highly well know author and public speaker while the other is serving a life sentence for murder.
Moore didn’t have a father for too long. In fact, he only had two memories of him. One memory was when he was when he got in trouble for hitting his sister and his father informed him his job is to protect his family and woman, not to hurt them. Moore’s mother had been abused in every way possible so she did not tolerate abuse of any kind in her family or with anyone else. Moore’s father died shortly after he gave his advice. His father was his hero. The Other Moore’s father left his family.
They had similar childhoods, similar lives. The other Wes had gotten into the drug business and was able to do difficult calculations in his head so he didn’t get caught by the police. Moore was sent to military school at thirteen because he was always getting in trouble. Both Wes’s are quite smart, they both learned responsibility in different ways. They were both protectors of their family in different ways. Both lived up to the expectations that society held for them, and what they held for themselves.
Moore heard about the other Moore from his mother. She had told him that there were wanted posters throughout the neighborhood with his name on it. He was curious why he was being looked for and found out about the other Wes Moore started corresponding with the other Wes in prison, then he started to visit him. He has known Wes for over ten years now.
Life is about the decisions we make for ourselves and the decisions we make for our lives. We are human, no one expects us to be perfect. We make mistakes, we make bad choices; what’s important is that we learn from our bad choices so we can learn to better ourselves as human beings. The other Wes knows he’s in prison for life. He told Moore himself, “I am here till I am carried out.” He knows his decisions have had a great impact on both his family as well as the man’s family that he murdered. Wes tries to keep in touch with his family the best he can.
Both Wes Moore’s have children, they both had interactions with the law, yet their fates are wildly different. Wes told Moore that if there was a way to help people see that they have the ability to make good decisions for their lives, he should. We have to teach our kids and students that they are capable, that they can reach their targets. They have to know they have potential in this world. We only have one life, why not make the most of it.
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