37 and a half to life

Friday was a good day! I went to work and it was an unusually busy day. There were events taking place throughout the day, the students had lots of energy and excitement was in the air. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought it was a full moon! At two o'clock, we had a special visitor.  Congresswoman Louise Slaughter  (who I greatly admire for being a voice for my community) came to our school to read a special book. With her was the President of our School Board, Author and Civil Rights Attorney,  Van White , who wrote a book titled  Heroes . The Congresswoman would be reading the book to a group of fourth graders from the Boys' Academy. Among those students were the kids that have been participating in the LINKS Program . The book spoke about the heroes in our lives, everyday people that can make a difference. It also gave examples of what is NOT a hero... good point. The kids loved it. As the Congresswoman read to the children, they asked questio...

My daughter is turning 25 years old today. She should be happy, bursting with joy as her life is just beginning. She married a beautiful young man, who adores her. She is well educated and has a good job (though it comes with its share of frustrations). She is healthy and she is safe. But she is missing something. She had to grow up without being able to talk to her daddy whenever she needed a listening ear (other than my own). I can only imagine the pain she felt whenever she needed a daddy hug, the kind only he can give! But like a plant that grows in a room with only one window, she sought the light and she grew, in fact, she thrived. Raising her wasn't easy though. You see, this peppy girl; high school cheerleader, popular, with friends galore, would sometimes get really angry, at other times very depressed. She would cry sometimes and wouldn't tell me why she was sad. At other times she was happier than a dog with two tails! She was talkative and excitable. As a litt...

In 1988, Bobby McFerrin sang to the world,  "Don't Worry, Be Happy!"  Suddenly, my mom (Mami) had a theme song. She has always been the quintessential optimist and this song was a perfect match for her attitude. I was 15 years old and all the happy- ness  was a little too much. Mami would sing the song whenever one of us kids would get whiny or would encounter difficulty or drama (teenagers are quite familiar with it). Even though I am fairly laid back, I can get very stressed out about some things. Example; I was about to start working and I hadn't secured a babysitter. My reaction was to go into panic mode and then, here comes Mami with her mantra, "don't worry, be happy!" What she means is that things will work out- while I was busy freaking out, she had been making phone calls and just as she predicted, everything was OK. This type of situation has repeated itself many times during my life and Mami's advice is always to trust and not worry. S...