Strong Women

I’m a strong woman, because I was raised by strong women.

I remember going to clean houses with my Aunt Margaret at about 10 years old. These were the houses that resembled what I saw on t.v. shows. Spiral staircases, rooms of high end furniture and neighborhoods as pristine as those that graced a Better Homes magazine. Seeing this planted a seed. It gave me drive, it gave me hope, it made me want the very best for my own family one day. Cause I knew what it looked like and that’s exactly what I wanted.

Watching my Grandmother, Amma talk to everyone we saw in the city because she took care of their mothers-sisters-aunts-great niece! When my grandfather would come in off of one of his boats, she’d feed crowds of people until the sun had long set. Seafood everyday! We lived off seafood. It taught me that a smile and conversation could cure almost anything. That when someone’s in need, my job was to help, in whatever way you could. In my early 20’s, as a military spouse, I found myself cooking every Sunday for my husbands friends who lived in the barracks. Young guys that hadn’t had a home cooked meal in forever. Came to us, as a member of our home, as if it was theirs.

I have Strength in my family. From women who have cared for sick husbands to those who have buried them. Women who been through what you going through and can tell you every pain-staking route to get out! Women locked up, strung out and rehabilitated. These women aren’t perfect, not by any means of the word. But these very women, in my family, in my life, have all played a phenomenal part in the woman I am today.

I want to thank my aunts for putting “3 year old Me” up on the kitchen counter and told me I was a model! You were right! My little cousins who let me experiment on their hair. Whether it came out right or not, y’all had my back. My sisters who have kept me grounded. Kept me calm in the most dire times of my life and celebrated my every accomplishment. My mother and grandmothers, who made the impossible possible. You’ve moved mountains to prove that it can be done.

Thank you to the women who have taught, showed and contributed to every dream I’ve had or chance I’ve taken. I thank you and I love you!