Nicole Moschella
On Wednesday night, “Frozen” actor Josh Gad shared another heartbreaking tweet about the death of his friend’s 14-year-old son while watching the residents of Parkland, Florida, address their representatives about their views on gun control in a special CNN town hall.
Gad’s family friend Max Schachter read a poem written by his son, Alex, who was among the 17 people killed when a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas on Feb. 14.
Max Schachter, father of Florida high school shooting victim Alex Schachter, shares a poem that his son wrote https://t.co/RtJCSmd1sR #StudentsStandUp pic.twitter.com/XmxVpBt3Ek
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) February 22, 2018
The free verse poem went as follows:
Life is like a roller coaster
It has some ups and down
Sometimes you can take it slow or very fast
It may be hard to breathe at times/but you have to push yourself and keep going.
Your bar is your safety
It’s like your family and friends
You hold on tight and you don’t let go
But sometimes you might throw your hands up
Because your friends and family will always be with you
Just like that bar keeping you safe at all times
It may be too much for you at times: the twists, the turns, the upside downs
But you get back up
You keep chugging along
Eventually it comes to a stop
You won’t know when or how
But you will know that’ll be the time to get off and start anew
Life is like a roller coaster
Gad shared his support for the grieving family on Twitter writing, “Watching our family friend #maxschachter read his son Alex’s poem tonight is almost too much for me to bear. Max, we are all with you. We love you. Your strength is incredible. Your son’s poetry is light in this darkness. #alexschachter.”
Watching our family friend #maxschachter read his son Alex’s poem tonight is almost too much for me to bear. Max, we are all with you. We love you. Your strength is incredible. Your son’s poetry is light in this darkness. #alexschachter
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) February 22, 2018
The actor was previously outspoken about his grief and called for stricter gun control after hearing the news of Alex’s death.
“I am so angry tonight. I am so sad. I’m putting my phone down because we are debating sensible gun laws again,” he wrote on Feb. 14. “A child of one of our friend’s has a bullet in his chest & is critical condition because a 19 year old had access to a military weapon. Pretend it’s normal. It’s not.”
He later went on to call out Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) after he said Americans shouldn’t “jump to conclusions” about gun laws in the wake of mass shootings.
“As a Floridian, please let me be among the masses to tell you, you are a spineless coward @marcorubio and I hope your 3.3 million dollars in NRA funding comes with ear plugs that allow you to tune out the mourning cries of children and parents everywhere,” he wrote.
As a Floridian, please let me be among the masses to tell you, you are a spineless coward @marcorubio and I hope your 3.3 million dollars in NRA funding comes with ear plugs that allow you to tune out the mourning cries of children and parents everywhere. https://t.co/C5Myd1N2ZQ
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) February 15, 2018
He later shared his condolences after hearing of Alex’s passing.
“Last night, I received a text while I slept that our friend’s son passed away from his gun shot wound. My grief for this family and the many others knows no bounds. I’m so sorry this happened. I’m so sorry our leaders are worthless. I’m so sorry we are bound to repeat this again,” he wrote.
