Spruce Craft’s story

Spruce Craft’s story begins on June 13th and is one of overcoming a traumatic and irresponsible upbringing through his passion for poetry and art. He was very involved with mental health from a young age. Spruce was born under a bridge in Indianapolis, his parents were drug addicts and they had no money to fund this child. Later, he was placed up for adoption and was adopted by a family friend. His new mother broke him more than once. Angered raged within him to feel unloved despite this person choosing him. As Spruce aged, he began to notice things about himself, and how they made him feel. He used a journal to write down his feelings that even he didn’t understand then. 

One day, on a playground in fourth grade, Spruce accidentally left his notebook on a bench and returned inside with his class. A first-grade class is next outside, and one of the students finds the notebook to give to a teacher. The teacher is horrified and immediately notifies the school administrator. His mom is called, counselors are involved, and they sit his nine-year-old self down to talk. Spruce tried and tried to explain, but at such a young age he did not have the words or experience to explain this pain. Since Spruce could not accurately describe his pain, they called in a professional to ask questions. Spruce answered honestly and willingly to the best of his ability, for he knew no reason to lie, or not to trust. They made Spruce’s mom take him to the Emergency Room, and he only had five minutes to go home and prepare. Spruce’s life was heavily involved in technology, and he wanted to go and tell who he thought were his friends about what was happening. His mom said no, and Spruce didn’t understand anything that was going on. He grabbed his favorite stuffed animal, the Pokémon Rayquaza, and they rushed out, heading to the INTEGRIS Health Community Hospital at Council Crossing. All Spruce remembers is being in the room while they talked to a doctor via TeleHealth. The next day, he was escorted outside and into a police car. Spruce remembers being scared, sitting in the back of the vehicle playing Pokémon Sun on his 3DS.

Spruce arrives at Spencer Mental Health, in Spencer, Oklahoma, two hours and fifteen minutes from his hometown of Locust Grove, Oklahoma. They check him in, and he is forced from what he knows. They take Rayquaza, and Spruce starts to sob and scream because he doesn’t know why this is happening. He told the truth, why is he here? He then thought in his little mind after a few weeks that if he was honest about everything he would never go home, or talk to his friends again. Spruce was there. Day and night. Six months time. He and his mom had to fight for his freedom, and finally, they agreed on one condition.

When he got out, everything was different. He was being watched and monitored whenever he played games online. He could not go to school, instead he went to a place called Positive Changes. He dealt with stereotypes. He never really thought about these things before. He started thinking deeply and writing stories. He also thought a lot about who he was as a person, and here he noticed he was not who he should be, but he didn’t know what it meant. It was a rough, around seven-month journey but finally, after his struggles, he got to paint his hand grey and press it on the tree wall to show his accomplishment.

Shortly after his release from Positive Changes, Spruce got stuck in a rut. He started self-harming, he attempted suicide twice, and it was seemingly over for him. In his words, “I had already fallen. I was on a ledge, crying. Too scared to jump, and in too much pain to climb. The clock was ticking, the ledge was cracking, and I had to do something. So, I took a deep breath and climbed back until I gave in. I knew this was a big change, and very quickly, everything I knew no longer remained how I knew it.”

It was at this time he met Millie. He felt he could trust her, and she understood. It was through her that he got involved in the Mental Health community.

Spruce held onto that thought of not being who he should be. He ventured into his favorite Roblox game, “Wolves’ Life 3” again. He met different people. They exposed him to the LGBTQ+ community. As he grew and learned, he had a lesbian phase. It took him around 2-3 years to realize. When he got into middle school, he met one of his best friends to this day, Oliver. Oliver was wise, kind, and an amazing person. Simply being in a room with Oliver, you can tell he radiates strength and confidence and is knowledgeable. Spruce told him about this thought and Oliver explained to him about being trans, and that he was. During this time, he also met another amazing person and best friend named Milo. Milo is a very smart, strong, fun person to hang out with, and hanging out can be pretty interesting. He asks Milo for advice most of the time. At the time, Milo was trans and helped educate him. This is when he really understood his gender, thanks a lot to his friends Oliver and Milo.

It was in late February of 2024 when Spruce met his best friend, Eclipse, who has sat with him and comforted him through many situations. Eclipse is a very wise, strong, smart, kind, & gentle (despite the occasional grammatical error) person who has dealt with their own trauma and helped others at the same time.

This year, he also met Lynn, who he claimed as his older sister. Lynn is another close friend of Spruce’s. Most of the closest people to him, including Lynn, are ones he has only met recently. Lynn is (astoundingly) smart, strong, mature, loving, and knowledgeable.

Spruce honestly never thought he could write songs or poetry. He really started after sixth grade with his teacher’s writing prompts when he thought of putting his pain into word form with quotes. First, he ventured into writing songs by throwing things down in a paragraph of jumbled thoughts and putting them together in a way that makes sense if sung. Starting with his song “My Sorrowful Blazing,” a song about a person he knew in the past and expressing his anger toward her, but also the part of him that still wanted her. This person meant a lot to Spruce when he was nine, going through rough times. Though they rarely talked, he found comfort and confided in her among other people. What he confided in her ultimately scared her and the other friends away. He trusted her. Her memory, more than others, still haunts him today. Spruce regrets his obliviousness toward trust, and it teaches him a lesson that trust is earned, not given. He found the courage to step more into poetry, starting with pantoums and working up to free verse and sonnets, which are his favorite types to write. He and his friends have put the hobbies together to make magnificent scenes along with poetry to make something most wouldn’t think to do - truly original pieces. Spruce very much enjoys his photography, and his favorite camera by far is the FujiFilm FinePix HS20 EXR, or as he calls him, Thomas. 

Today, Spruce relies heavily on poetry to express his thoughts and feelings. His thoughts are mostly on the status of the world, mental health, his closest allies, and advice he would give to people. Spruce will focus on one part of society, and then break it down with a lot of pure truth embedded in the language and weave bits of hope from his own experience for people who struggle with this part.

Spruce has overcome many hardships in his life. The hardest, and most recent, was betrayal from Millie. He loved her and thought she did too. Eventually, it was clear that the love he gave was never returned. She went behind his back with five different people including her brother, and had a kid for proof. She constantly made him believe that he was the only one and she cared, but just for him to find out he wasn’t. Then, she leaves Spruce while he has nobody to run to. He struggled. A lot. Then, they get back together once more. He tries his hardest to make it work, but at this point can tell it is finally over, but he doesn’t know how to let go. He struggles for days, then she leaves again, this time for one of the people she cheated with, named Austin. This incident left a huge trauma on him, making him further fear abandonment and have more trust issues.

This has troubled him a lot, with everyone. He starts to build himself a supportive friend circle, and forming close alliances. A while later, he meets an amazing person in Wolves’ Life 3. Spruce and Sky start to converse and become close. Soon enough, they find themselves together and afraid to lose one another. This time, he feels that the love is mutual, more than one-sided, and feels safe. He can see the reasons and believes she deserves trust, but after Millie, he struggles. He is currently learning to allow himself to trust again, and he believes it is a process. With each day, he and Sky become closer, and he slowly but surely begins to reignite his ability to trust again. In his words, “I’ve been betrayed, yes, but that should not hinder me from being who I am. I am Spruce Grey Craft, God of the Mind, with a heart made to love. I don’t need to be perfect, I just need to be here, to listen, help, love, and be an example, with the amazing people alongside me through every step of the journey. The world will know my name, not Millie’s, she’s just my stepping stone.”

Today, Spruce lives as the little sprout alongside his loving girlfriend, Sky, and his friends, and has come a long way from that scared kid alone in a mental health hospital. He may be in a better state of mind and see beauty in everything and a better way of thinking, but he still has a lot of room to learn and grow. He lives a life of thoughts, poetry, writing, and love of all kinds. Every day is a fight, and it can get tough, but this is more of a reason to forest, a word straight from his tree dictionary, meaning to band together and grow with one another. He believes he is here to sit with people and comfort and believe in them even when they don’t believe in themselves. Sky is his motivation to climb the cliff even though it seems daunting.

Even though we go through rough times, there is always hope. Spruce wants to dedicate his life to helping all who are going through rough times and teaching people who don't understand. What they feel is real, and it’s okay to not be okay. 

And remember ...

YOUR STORY ISN’T OVER.