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An interview with a 16-year-old who created something beautiful after losing her dad.
http://www.rookiemag.com/2015/05/why-cant-i-be-you-genevieve-liu/
Why Can’t I Be You: Genevieve Liu
An interview with a 16-year-old who created something beautiful after losing her dad.
05/19/2015
Genevieve Liu is a 16-year-old high school sophomore from Chicago, Illinois, where she lives with her mom and younger brother and sister. Last year, she founded an organization and website called Surviving Life After a Parent Dies (aka SLAP’D) to give teenagers who are grieving the loss of a parent, or both parents, a place to talk to each other about what they’re going through, and to provide them resources and professional support. SLAP’D came about when Genevieve was 13 and first processing her own grief over the death of her dad, Dr. Donald Liu, who drowned saving two boys from a strong current in Lake Michigan.
We call this series “Why Can’t I Be You,” and though I can’t imagine what it’s like to “be” someone who has lost a parent, I admire Genevieve immensely for creating something that is helping grieving teens, including herself. Here’s what she has to say about it.
LENA: Hi, is this Genevieve? This is Lena calling from Rookie.
Oh, awesome! I’m excited to get your call.
Genevieve, before we get started—how do you pronounce your name?
John-vee-ev. It’s the French way of pronouncing Genevieve.
Thank you! OK, let’s talk about when you started working on SLAP’D.
A little over six months after my dad died, I knew that I wanted to do something for teens [who were also grieving for their parents]. Even though I had an incredible community here in Chicago, I still felt very alone, and like no one really understood. I had friends who were my everything, but I felt like I couldn’t relate to them very well anymore. I felt like I couldn’t reach out to my siblings in many ways because they were still trying to figure things out. Talking to the guidance counselor was awkward. It was awful. The people who were most helpful to talk to were teens who were in a similar situation. So that’s the concept—the hope for connection, and to foster a sense of community. I guess it started as, Let’s make a blog. But then it really evolved into something a lot more interactive—more of a community and an online resource for teens who have lost a parent, which is what SLAP’D is now. I started working on it a year and a half ago, but the website only really came to fruition about a year ago.
<snip>
Why Can’t I Be You: Genevieve Liu
An interview with a 16-year-old who created something beautiful after losing her dad.
05/19/2015
Genevieve Liu is a 16-year-old high school sophomore from Chicago, Illinois, where she lives with her mom and younger brother and sister. Last year, she founded an organization and website called Surviving Life After a Parent Dies (aka SLAP’D) to give teenagers who are grieving the loss of a parent, or both parents, a place to talk to each other about what they’re going through, and to provide them resources and professional support. SLAP’D came about when Genevieve was 13 and first processing her own grief over the death of her dad, Dr. Donald Liu, who drowned saving two boys from a strong current in Lake Michigan.
We call this series “Why Can’t I Be You,” and though I can’t imagine what it’s like to “be” someone who has lost a parent, I admire Genevieve immensely for creating something that is helping grieving teens, including herself. Here’s what she has to say about it.
LENA: Hi, is this Genevieve? This is Lena calling from Rookie.
Oh, awesome! I’m excited to get your call.
Genevieve, before we get started—how do you pronounce your name?
John-vee-ev. It’s the French way of pronouncing Genevieve.
Thank you! OK, let’s talk about when you started working on SLAP’D.
A little over six months after my dad died, I knew that I wanted to do something for teens [who were also grieving for their parents]. Even though I had an incredible community here in Chicago, I still felt very alone, and like no one really understood. I had friends who were my everything, but I felt like I couldn’t relate to them very well anymore. I felt like I couldn’t reach out to my siblings in many ways because they were still trying to figure things out. Talking to the guidance counselor was awkward. It was awful. The people who were most helpful to talk to were teens who were in a similar situation. So that’s the concept—the hope for connection, and to foster a sense of community. I guess it started as, Let’s make a blog. But then it really evolved into something a lot more interactive—more of a community and an online resource for teens who have lost a parent, which is what SLAP’D is now. I started working on it a year and a half ago, but the website only really came to fruition about a year ago.
<snip>