Creating A Different Life, Captured in Photos
From my father I inherited the gift of optimism; nothing was beyond reach when combined with my mother's gifts of tenacity and perseverance. My own gifts of sensitivity and intuition are from the Universe and have never betrayed me as I stepped out and forward on a path that was often obscure. In my early formative years, there were few signs that I would veer in a different direction from that of siblings, neighbors, schoolmates, or full-immersion Baptists.
​
Perhaps my sensitive nature--inclusiveness, always on the side of the underdog--led to my first major break with the norms established to regulate the behavior of African Americans, in general; and of African American women, in particular. Five years into my first marriage, I decided to leave my husband, despite the awesome responsibility of three children. I never doubted that I would fail; I was part of a network of friends, who became my children's aunties and uncles. My parents; especially, my mother, more than 500 miles away from me, never wavered in their moral, emotional nor financial support.
​
A second marriage to a man from West Africa set in motion an incredible journey that is still hard to believe as it continues to unfold. Intuitively, I knew that my journey would eventually be experienced as a single woman; regardless, of my deep desire to be in a committed, monogamous, loving, reciprocal relationship.