Our Club has a stated commitment to honor our fellow brothers when they pass, under the banner of "Never Forgotten." Sometimes that gesture is a letter to the family, or a presentation at Homecoming. Other times it's teammates rallying together to give a gift. Most times that response is immediate. Occasionally, though, more time and space are needed to process the hurt and the loss.
Joe Jenkins '77 has experienced both. Two years have passed since he first put pen to paper, but the memory of certain lives lost has always been top of mind. Joe shares below what prompted him to act, in doing so, helps our group to Always Remember, Never Forget.
February 21, 2025
I wrote this song the day after Lavel Davis, Jr., D’Sean Perry and Devin Chandler were murdered. I was overwhelmed because my heart knew what the parents were going through.
My wife and I lost a child in 2000 and it’s the most unnatural, helpless feeling a human can go through. Your heart just cries out. I wrote Tell Me It’s Not True because there’s no way your mind can believe something so incredibly painful can be happening. You become numb. You can’t run away from the pain. The grief seems to lock you into a cell of solitary confinement. The tears seem to never stop.
To write this song was healing to me because I had always wanted to write my son a song but could never find the words. I know the lyrics are incredibly sad and the haunting melody is written in a way as to cry the pain away.
I wanted to send it to the parents but I just thought it would be too sad for them to hear it.
— Joe Jenkins '77
TELL ME IT'S NOT TRUE
It was a long day yesterday, and an even longer night
When all at once my life changed, just turned on a dime
How can it be that this life, can be so cruel
Now all I have is memories, of the time I had with you
When I got the news about it, the words you never want to hear
Everything broke inside of me, it was I that I could bear
Like the storms of a hurricane, my tears poured like rain
And everything inside me died, with you trapped with my mind
CHORUS
Tell me it's not true, Tell me it's not true
I can't live this live without you, Tell me it's not true
There's no words left to say here, that can bring you back to me
The heartache that I'm feeling, don't know no boundaries
How can I go on living, with all this pain I feel inside
Lord help me find a reason, hidden deep within these cries
** shared with permission