The Ravyn

Who is The Ravyn? When first asked if I would be interested in helping to write about who Jenn is, I thought it would be easy to list a column of good attributes and write about a smiling soul who always seemed to be able to find courage, no matter what life through at her. That, however, would be kissing a little too much ass for my tastes.

Jenn (The Ravyn) is a person who had every right to hate, to live with scorn, to lock herself away in some little hole and never venture out into the world. Given what fate had dealt her she had every right to detest men, to look in horror at society. Fate, however, had other plans for Jenn. First, it gave her a daughter that forced her to step outside on occasion, albeit not without hesitation. Serena opened up a whole new journey for Jenn to partake in; she also brewed a fresh pot of hope for Jenn to sip at on the darker nights.

As Jenn slowly reacquainted herself with the world, Serena was the one who would grab her hand and lead her to a bed of flowers, point out how beautiful they are and smile a smile so beautiful that even the dark Ravyn had to smile in return.

Jenn wasn’t completely reinstated in society as most of us are; she still kept to herself and didn’t allow anyone into her crazy little world. So after a few years, Fate decided this just wouldn’t do, it had to give back to this girl and tap that reserve of courage that lay deep in her heart. So Fate looked around, it knew Jenn couldn’t be asked to stray too far from home in her search. In its scan around her neighborhood, it found a girl who held love in her heart and had an understanding frown and an easy laugh. Fate knew a perfect unity when it foresaw one and set about to get these two together. So Fate called Chance to its side and pointed down at Jenn and Serena and then pointed down at Lisa and asked, “What do you think?”

Chance smiled and said, “It would be an honor to give something back to Jenn, and Lisa could use some love herself.”

And that was the start of a unity that will forever be marked in Fate’s ‘How to’ book of hope.

I’m sure it wasn’t easy on either of them, and Serena could do only so much to try and cheer them both up on a daily basis. Love blossomed like something out of a romance novel written by Dean Koontz. A haunted yet rewarding journey of three souls bound together. On April 28th. 2001, a new angel of hope was born into the family of three, her name, Sarah. Sarah deepened the pool of hope in both Lisa and Jenn, and Serena took to being a big sister with ease and enthusiasm.

Through the Internet Jenn found the courage to reach out to others, to share with them her story and “scribbles”. Some people, who either did not grasp what she wrote or who were simply cruel and self-absorbed tore her writings apart. A tidal wave of doubt would wash over Jenn and cause her to delete many of her posts at times. For many of us, this would have been enough to stop us from posting anything at all. Not Jenn, she would simply take a moment in time to collect herself and try again to spread courage to the world.

It worked, handfuls of people read Jenn’s writings and were moved to tears. For myself, her story dropped me into a bit of sorrow before her courage relit a candle of hope and determination and lighted my way back from suicidal thoughts and actions. She would deny this of course because she never could understand just how integral a part of hope she is. But that is Jenn, our Angel winged Ravyn. We may no longer be able to reach out and connect with her cyber thoughts, but we all can still feel the gentle caress of courage that she has touched our hearts with. The hopes to better understand those who we do not know, and the ways of people we may not understand.

In my description, I use the term ‘Faith’, not as a thing of biblical origin, but as a creator with a knowing heart and an understanding soul. From the age of nine, Fate fought hard to get Jenn out of this world and into the next. He gave her many chances, dragged her through a life that most could not live through. Yet Jenn’s soul was stronger than it realized, and she survived. So Fate cut her some slack and sent her a bigger mission than to merely survive. It sent her a mission to love and to spread her Ravyn wings and instill courage and hope into strangers whom she would never meet in this lifetime. She took to these challenges with vigor and succeeded in full.

The world is a little grayer now that Jenn is no longer sitting behind a computer screen. But the mission to spread courage was completed, and now she has time to cuddle close to her family and watch over them. Without having to worry about us.

We could not forget Jenn if it was the price into Heavens gates, she touched us in such ways as to never be forgotten, and she left behind her tale of courage. For those who never had a chance to share a *s* (smile) with Jenn, you can still learn courage and compassion from her “scribblings”.

The world continues to turn, life does go on. Sometimes life changes in mid step, but a soul is born forever. An eternity of hope is what The Ravyn has left with us, let us embrace it and never let go.

Jennifer Anne Sloan
~The Ravyn ~

(8-17-77 – 5-16-04)

you can read her stories and “scribbles” here:
Ravyn’s Scribbles