My name is Amy Truong and Asher Orrin Michael Brown was my son. My life was forever changed on a fateful Thursday afternoon in September 2010. My sweet 13-year-old son committed suicide shortly after arriving home from school.
My husband David, Asher’s step-dad, found him when he arrived home 30 minutes after Asher. That 30 minutes has haunted us more than you could possibly imagine. It’s amazing how much 30 minutes can change the course of entire lives and that the ripple from that can in turn change the world.
We are ordinary people placed into extraordinary circumstances. This is now my life and I am still struggling to find the “new normal”. What keeps me focused is creating a lasting legacy for my son. One that restores his dignity and possibly saves other people’s lives. My goal is to advocate for those young men and women still here enduring the same treatment and suffering that my son went through. I cannot save Asher, he is gone. However, I refuse to lay down and let his experiences go unrecognized for their extreme cruelty and unnoticed by the powers in charge of change. Asher’s death will not fade into the annals of history as some “event” that took place in the fall of 2010 when so many other tormented youth got fed up and said, “Enough is enough.”
I hope you will take the time to get to know Asher and all the young people who left far too soon. We, all of us, can make things better if we ban together and require that positive changes be made. I know this won’t always be an easy road and the price I have paid already is more than I think I can bear sometimes. But the battle is far from over and I am prepared to see it through.
When I see Asher’s face again, I want him to know that I did everything in my power to make this world a better place and I did it with him in mind. My son will not have died in vain….
ashersparents 
Dear Amy and Asher’s family
My name is Eleazar Catter and I am a writer/Actor (I act under the name Ricky Catter). I was severely bullied when I was Asher’s age. So much so that I didn’t talk about it for over 20 years. Last year, upon hearing Asher’s story on the news, I began to weep because It reminded of how it was for me growing up. I couldn’t just sit and do nothing, so I started writing a play called ‘The Poets” loosely based on my experience. It took about a year to write. anytime I felt like giving up, Asher’s face popped into my head, and I thought ” I have to do it for him” ! I finished the play and produced it to rave reviews in Houston(At the frenetic theatre)! The response was so amazing that I adapted the play to a screenplay and plan to produce it as a film soon. I just wanted to let you know that I feel so connected to Asher. You see I was Asher. I feel I went through it with him….and I feel him. I feel like God connected us in some mysterious way. Please feel free to contact me, I would really like to talk someday. Just so you know I’m legit, here is my website http://www.rickycatter.com I have been an actor on TV for many years and I also teach. I also would love to send you all the articles and reviews of the show…and if you would like, I wanted to send you the script aswell. Here is my email…please please feel free anytime to contact me rickycatter@yahoo.com
Hello lovely ashersparents blog,
http://headinmyhands.com/ is a new domain. I hope you visit us soon.
Thank you for bringing your personal experience public to advocate on behalf of your son. Our website http://www.AskaNurseNow.info is going to add anti-bullying info and resources and we will add a link to this blog. We feel very strong about bringing this topic to the forefront, to give these children a voice and hopefully prevent acts of bullying in the future.
Angi McElfresh, RN, HSA, Owner of http://www.AskaNurseNow.info
Thank you for doing what you’re doing. Please let me know if I can help with other information. We have new state laws that will be coming into effect September 1,2012 and I want to make sure parents and students are aware of their rights. The 23rd of September will be the 2nd anniversary of Asher’s passing.
Hello Amy, thinking of you today July 4th, of course it means nothing to me being english, but i know you will have celebrations, and that can be hard. So just to say thinking of you, and Asher always xxx
Hi Amy, just saying hello and seeing if your ok, as you havent posted lately, but i also know your very busy. Anyway was thinking of you and your family, so just sending my love to you and David and always Asher xxx
Dear Amy,
Thanks very much for your encouraging comment on my blog. As a mother of two teenage children I can’t even begin to imagine the pain you have been through losing Asher. Your blog is inspiring and I tried to sign up but it says my email is invalid. I’ve ticked the box below to hear about new posts so I hope that will work. Best of luck with all your efforts!
Thank you for responding. I am very interested in writing a book of my own regarding this journey. Do you have any suggestions on how to do that and where to begin? I feel that if I can share this with others perhaps in can help people to not feel so alone and possibly save lives.
Hi Amy –
I’m just a picture book writer but I think the best way to start with any sort of writing is to look at how others have approached the subject. Are there any books about love and loss that you find particularly moving or helpful? Can you find a model that speaks the way you would like to? That is the first step. I’m sure you have a lot to share and your book could definitely make a difference!
Hang in there Amy, just wanted to say hello. We met briefly at the Women of Worth rally in San Antonio in October 2011. I spoke after you guys had to leave, Asher’s story really touched me and it’s student like this that I’m willing to speak up for to show others that Love is greater than hate.
Thank you so much for commenting. It’s good to hear from you. Do you ever come to the Houston area? I’m so glad that you’re making a difference for our youth. God Bless.
Mr. and Mrs. Truong,
I have been following Asher’s story for the past year. I just wanted to let you know how dear to my heart it has become and I have become an active advocate for gay rights and anti bullying. My son is only five years old and he has already endured his first year of torture through bullying. I cannot imagine what Asher went through and like so many people wish I was there to help back him and your family up through all of this. Keep writing and keep fighting; you inspire me.
Sasha, Newfoundland and Labrador
Thank you Sasha for your words of support. It will indeed take all of us as a global community standing up for change to make it happen. A friend of ours made a profound statement regarding Asher’s fight and the significance that has been placed on his loss and on these events. He said, “There are always casualties in war.” He’s right. This is a war. A war that we as parents, concerned citizens, aunts, uncles, human beings, everyone should be willing to fight for the greater good. Some of us will fight and lose our lives as Asher has, but the rest of us will pick up the mantle and forge forward carrying their memory with us and give them honor in death.
Unfortunately Asher isn’t the only one who has been lost in this war. And the other children and families stories are just as heartbreaking. Thankfully some of us have been able to come together to support one another and to stand side-by-side and demand justice for our children as well as make a difference for the generations to come. I am grateful for those connections because while the circumstances that brought us together were horrible and never should have happened, it is such a unique relationship that we pray noone else will ever have to have.
Thank you once again for reaching out. I pray that your struggle will come to an end soon with your child being bullied and that if there is anything you can gleen from our story to help you, please use it. Our prayers are with you. God Bless.
Dear Mrs. Amy,
My name is Daniel Heiner. I am a 17 year old IB student from Nicaragua and am currently working on my Extended Essay.
It is based on homophobic bullying in Texas and I was wondering if I could include your son’s tragic story as an example of gay bashing in the State. I was also wondering if you could also provide me with further information on the topic.
My most sincere condolences go out to you and your husband. Asher was a lovely, bright boy that did not deserve what happened to him.
Best regards,
Daniel.
Dear Daniel,
Thank you for your support and interest in this very important topic. You will find in my links the documentary by Adrian Naik that I think was very well done and one I believe can give you sources for more material. Also, consider the Equality Texas website. This amazing group helped us so much regarding giving our family a voice and Asher’s legacy honor by helping to insure the passage of new laws that protect ALL school children in the state of Texas against bullying. These fine people along with many Senators and Legislators also recognized the importance of teen suicide as a health crisis not just a passing news story to be quickly replaced with something else and through all our efforts combined we were successful in also getting a suicide prevention and intervention law passed that will give schools and administration the tools and opportunity to reach out to a child in crisis and get them services rather than turn the other way out of fear of having no legal recourse allowing them to step in without fear of losing their jobs.
That is something that a lot of teachers and other folks in the education community told us as we were lobbying about both the bullying and the suicide risk. That they wanted to help but were afraid of being sued or just had no idea where to turn for the information and laws that they could point to and say, “We have to step in for the sake of the child in crisis and get them help before it’s too late.” I would also recommend looking at the Trevor Project and the individual cases of Seth Walsh, Tyler Clemente, and unfortunately many other young men and women who were singled out because of either being gay or perceived as gay and targeted for relentless cruelty and realistically…having their CIVIL RIGHTS violated.
I do believe that this will be the next civil rights movement in the world and certainly in our country and I will march arm in arm to Washington DC to make my sons voice heard in order to protect other children and families from having to endure the catastrophic results of allowing this behavior to persist unchecked. Good luck to you and I hope you give your very best to this essay and make yet another case for all of the world to see that these things do happen to real people and families that deserve better than what they were given. Together we must all stand up and be the voice for those who cannot speak for themselves or are to afraid to out of fear of retaliation. Together we CAN make a difference. God Bless
Thank you for reaching out to help others.