I was quiet, but I was not blind. - Jane Austen

Nothing boosts your confidence like family research or “finding your people”. In this COVID environment, you realize that it is no small miracle that your family survived this long. There are a myriad of events, diseases included, that could have stopped your lineage. You are definitely here by design. As I uncovered these wonderful names of people I had never met or heard of, I was inspired.

There were many late nights researching and gleaning the records to structure the family tree. Older versions...

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou

When I returned to college for graduate school, I was able to secure a job in the Bursar’s office. I was the youngest in the group and my co-workers doted

on me!  I was so blessed to be around these fabulous ladies. We worked hard, but we also cared about each other. It was while I worked here that I started dating Mr. Valentine. I remember us all being in the window watching him cross the street...

The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves. - Steven Spielberg

Down through the years I have been so blessed to have women in my life who took the time to guide and direct me. I don’t know that they would call it mentoring per se, but there is a direction that comes with the sisterhood that naturally guides you to share your story, no matter how mundane you think it is. Sharing a bit of experience will encourage and uplift someone headed that way.

My Aunt K...

What gives me the most hope every day is God's grace; knowing that his grace is going to give me the strength for whatever I face, knowing that nothing is a surprise to God.

-Rick Warren

Raising children is an uncertain thing; success is reached only after a life of battle and worry.

-Democritus

When my guys were little, bath time was the highlight of the day. When I picked them up from school, I would always ask, how was school today. I’d get the compulsory “Fine”. I’d follow up with, did anything exciting happen. This provoked more thought and I m...

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

-Lao Tzu

Aretha Franklin died last year. Her songs set the soundtrack for many through the years. I enjoy reading biographies. Learning a person’s journey is such an important component of appreciating where they currently are in life. In Ms. Franklin’s bio, they gave a description of her early days and then noted “and after her mother died”.  Reading this I knew that her life took a tremendous shift. The foundation of your life changes after the death...

Motherhood is more than bearing children, though it is certainly that. It is the essence of who we are as women. It defines our very identity, our divine stature and nature, and the unique traits our Father gave us.  Sheri L. Dew

It didn’t occur to me that I am odd until I started seeing these same qualities manifesting in my adult children.  Now there are plenty of things that I do that are just strange, but I believe they are a result of necessity. Being the child of parents who grew up in the Great Depression, we were raised to be frugal. The...

You're not a dream,You're not an angel,You're a man

I'm not a queen,I'm a woman,Take my hand

We'll make a space In the lives That we'd planned

And here you'll stay Until it's time,For you to go

Recorded by Roberta Flack

I promised you the story of how I became a single parent. In the last entry, We’re Moving Where? You heard how I got to be a Georgia resident. In retrospect, I can see the patterns so clearly, but at the time, I was relying too heavily on experience and good common sense. Clearly I was out-matched.

My husband thrived on attention – a p...

We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.

- Joseph Campbell
 

Have you ever known someone for a while and then all of a sudden, you see them differently? Our courtship had been a world wind to say the least. He’d returned to Atlanta after graduating from Morehouse and was working in the city. I was earning my graduate degree at night and working during the day. He seemed like a nice enough gentlemen – educated, well spoken, and supportive of the church that we both attended. When he finally worked...

Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.

-Saint Francis de Sales
 

Several harrowing stories have been told about public housing, especially in New York. Originally created for families who couldn’t afford to pay rent to private landlords back in the 1930s, this housing option opened new possibilities to families. In the 1940s legislation was passed to provide this housing to returning World War II veterans. Strict rules were imposed on the residents including eviction for unwed mothers and property damage fines. Th...

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

Benjamin Franklin

Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.

Kofi Annan

It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.

Albert Einstein

One of our family objectives was to excel in education. My mother was a teacher and she passed that teacher spirit to me and my sister, who is also an educator. Having three sons, I wanted to give them every possible advantage in the classroom. So much...