My Southern Roots

There's not one person on Earth who truly knows me. I tell them what I want them to know. It's what Mom did. I learned a long time ago to mask certain things. Nobody knew what was happening in our household.

Now look at me! I'm about to tell the entire world about things I haven't fully divulged to anyone. It's time for me to heal though, and a part of this process is speaking out about things that I hold deep within.

So, let me start with a little background information. I was born on October 4, 1976 in Temple, TX. At the time of my birth, I had two older siblings (one with a different mother and one with a different father). I didn't meet my oldest brother until I was in my 30s. In 1978 my youngest sister was born in Killeen, TX. In 1979, my youngest brother was born in East Orange, NJ. In our household, there were four Geminis (my father and the three siblings I knew) and two Libras (Mom and me). Shortly after my youngest brother was born, my family moved to Albany, GA...the place where my parents were born.

One of my greatest memories of living in Albany was the time we spent with our cousins. Mom always taught us that our cousins were our friends. Even when family didn't treat us right, she still expected us to do right by them. We used to have sleepovers and slumber parties with our cousins! My grandmother had 14 children. So, our family is huge! This is a picture of some of us on my aunt's porch. I'm in the far right corner at the top. Yup! I am the only one who isn't looking at the camera.

I gained an extended family via the church. I was raised as a southern Baptist. The arrow in this picture points to me. I was this skinny, shy, brown-haired girl. We were members of Beulah Missionary Baptist Church where Reverend J.H. Reynolds was our pastor. I was the last of my siblings to be baptized. I waited because I was a Momma's girl and wanted to sit with her in church. If you know me, you'd know I was a true momma's girl! Eventually, I joined the choir. Y'all, I couldn't sAng a lick! I don't know why the pianist would have me leading songs! I'd always hear, "Make a joyful noise..." but I am not sure how much of the noise was actually joyful! 🤣

Y'all it's almost midnight here. I'll end by saying that Albany, GA brought many great memories. I will also tell you it brought many horrible ones. I want to focus on the positive for now. You'll hear more about me very soon. #Real #Raw and #Uncut