My mother was an amazing woman. She had incredible insights and she achieved things that no one I knew personally had ever achieved. She had the only bridal rental agency in Chicago’s downtown Loop for more than twenty years. She designed gowns for many very well-known personalities. She had her own radio program and was featured on a local television station long before it was acceptable for women of color. Later, she lived in Mexico, wrote for the Mexican Consulate, and traveled to Europe, Egypt, China, and Japan. Much later, she taught writing and publishing in Chicago area colleges. For most people, that would be more than enough in a lifetime, but not for my Mother. She went on to establish a reading center for children and then created a Black History telephone hot-line.
In the midst of all these achievements, she raised four children; a son and three daughters. Each of us was greatly influenced by her. My mother could have relied on the government to raise her children after she and my father were separated and divorced. We could have been swallowed up by the south side neighborhoods of Chicago where we grew up. My siblings and I could have been added to the growing statistics of bad stuff that happens to children from divorced parents. My mother refused to allow any of those scenarios to transpire. She would tell us…”You come from a long line of very successful people. For you to accept mediocrity is deciding to give up on yourself.” She sometimes worked three jobs to insure that we were provided for. That was just the kind of woman she was. Today, there are seven advanced degrees and several awards between my siblings and me. We have never been in trouble with the law and have worked really hard at continuing the legacy of my mother. She had four grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. My siblings and I have been working diligently at instilling in them the very things that my mother instilled in us. I will be every grateful for her as a force for greatness in my life.
A Smart woman, my mother, she gave me a great set of examples to follow based on her life and the life of her ancestors.
In the midst of all these achievements, she raised four children; a son and three daughters. Each of us was greatly influenced by her. My mother could have relied on the government to raise her children after she and my father were separated and divorced. We could have been swallowed up by the south side neighborhoods of Chicago where we grew up. My siblings and I could have been added to the growing statistics of bad stuff that happens to children from divorced parents. My mother refused to allow any of those scenarios to transpire. She would tell us…”You come from a long line of very successful people. For you to accept mediocrity is deciding to give up on yourself.” She sometimes worked three jobs to insure that we were provided for. That was just the kind of woman she was. Today, there are seven advanced degrees and several awards between my siblings and me. We have never been in trouble with the law and have worked really hard at continuing the legacy of my mother. She had four grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. My siblings and I have been working diligently at instilling in them the very things that my mother instilled in us. I will be every grateful for her as a force for greatness in my life.
A Smart woman, my mother, she gave me a great set of examples to follow based on her life and the life of her ancestors.
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