Gerard Arthur Way

This is a picture of Gerard at an interview. (I got this picture from www.photobucket.com)

My hero is Gerard Arthur Way, the lead singer of the rock band My Chemical Romance. I have idolized Gerard for 4 years now, so in saying this, I honestly have no idea where to begin in telling you how I think he is important to a lot of people. After the first time I listened to My Chemical Romance, my whole life changed, and it was in that moment that I felt everything made sense and I knew that I belonged somewhere. Through My Chemical Romance's music, I grew as a person and began understanding things in this world that we sometimes have no control over. There was just something in the sound that made me want to never stop listening and support the band through their career, I cannot even describe the feeling in words.

(www.photobucket.com)

I would consider Gerard impossible to describe in words, it's like trying to speak of an improbable happiness. He was just so unlike all the other famous people I had known up to this point. So down to earth, and nice to his fans, plus he did not take being famous for granted, he knew where he came from and why he was there. He was famous to help people who had been through similar problems that he had encountered. At a point he was suicidal and was an alcoholic, but he overcame both of those things in order to do what he does. His music to him is as therapeutic as it is to me. Gerard has inspired me to draw as well, because he originally wanted to be a graphic artist for comic books. I have always had a love for comics and I was a bit embarrassed by it because I was often thought of as a nerd for liking them. But knowing that Gerard also loved them I felt like there was someone else in this world like me. It is because of him that I started drawing in the first place. And without drawing I would have not be where I am now.

Gerard Way

Gerard has chronic depression and to deal with it he became a very heavy drinker in My Chemical Romance's first two albums. He was also suicidal at the time. But in the end, he sobered up and ended up on top. To me, Gerard is living proof that nothing that can be thrown your way in life can stop you. Whenever life throws something at you, you always have the choice to catch it, rather than let it pass you by. Through the good and bad, he has proved with love and hope that anyone can overcome anything, and there is no reason why we shouldn't "carry on." Whenever I feel down, I know that there is someone out there who has felt the same way, and sometimes that's all you need to know. He makes me feel like I am not alone. He is like the voice in the back of your head that tells you not to be afraid and that there is only one way to go from here, up.

Within his battle with depression, Gerard found his purpose. His purpose was to help people with the same issues. Thus, My Chemical Romance became his purpose, his way to tell people that it's ok to be messed up. Even though he has Depression, it never stopped him from doing great things and making a difference to people around him. I want to end this paragraph with a quote by Gerard that I heard in their dvd, Life on the murder scene, and the quote says:
"We've always been pretty adamant or vocal about our message. Just to know that its ok to be messed up because there are five guys who are just as messed up as you and we've overcome that in order to do what we do." (When he says five guys he is referring to the five band members of My Chemical Romance.)

"Do or die. You'll never make me. because the world will never take my heart. Go and try, you'll never break me, we want it all. We want to play this part, I won't explain or say I'm sorry I'm unshamed I'm going to share my scar. Give a cheer for all the broken. listen hear because its who we are. I'm just a man Im not a hero, I'm just a boy meant to sing this song, I'm just a man i'm not a hero."

Gerard gave me a much needed sense of belonging in a time when no one else seemed to quite understand. And now, "I am not afraid to keep on living, and I am not afraid to walk this world alone."