Fred Chong Rutherford

Speaking / Storytelling

So Let Me Share Something

A story written directly for a parent worried about their own child: an unflinching account of a family that went quiet after a loss, and the long process of understanding how trauma gets carried forward without anyone meaning to carry it. A piece for a room ready to sit with something difficult — about naming what happened, self-worth, and why some silences need to be broken.

Related

Related talks & storiesmore speaking on this theme

Growing up as the only kid who looked like him in a small, unkind town — and the unlikely place an escape route showed up.

Why he stopped celebrating his birthday, and what nearly thirty years of strange, sudden loss taught him about staying alive.

A childhood nighttime visitor, a phrase he didn’t understand until years later, and a piece of his family’s history he didn’t know he was carrying.

Related essaysthe written companion

I watch people around me closely. It’s deep in my nervous system. I’ve rewired so much of my behavior, and keep doing the work via CBT because it works for me. But there’s some things that stay with me. One thing I watch for is displaced anger. Like, someone is upset with person A. But […]

My community, the place where I feel seen and safe, is writers. My alignment, the people I feel challenged and inspired by, who I also spark, are harder to describe. I’m still looking for the words. Peace walkers. Kind talkers. The ones who talk to the wind so much that the idea of threats just […]

Notes on a Play – fred chong rutherford

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