Personal Childhood Web

There have been so many people who have nurtured and cared for me when I was a child.  The people that stand out the most are my mother, father gramma, sister and teacher. 

  My mother is a very spiritual and loving woman.  She loves to cook and spend time with family.  My mother cooked for us everyday and   prayed over us every night.  She volunteered at school events and our extra curricular activities. Growing up I remember my mother went back to school, worked part-time and cared for her family.  She did this all without me ever hear her complaining.  My mom made all her children feel special by taking us by ourselves to our favorite place.  My favorite place was the Chicago Aquarium and white Castles.  When I think about how I was raised I see myself repeating the things my mother did for me as a child.  I cook breakfast for my children every morning. I pray with them every night and I take them to their favorite place.  My mother was very influential in me returning back to school.  She has motivated me and encourages me often.  I hear her telling me you can do anything you put your mind too.  Her favorite versus from the Bible is Philippians 4:13 “I Can Do All Things through Christ Who Strengthens Me”. I believe and I have received this message and use this versus with my children.

                                       

   I am a daddy’s girl!   My daddy and mom separated when I was five years old but my daddy made sure he was always around.  He picked me up from school every day and would take me to get ice cream.  I was my daddy’s only child and yes I was and still am spoil. I thought for a long time that my daddy was a super hero because he would always flex his muscles and eat all his vegetables.  He would then pick up things at the time I though were very heavy items.  When I became a teenager he always wanted me to know how a guy was suppose to treat me if we went out on a date.  So every other Friday we had daddy daughter night.  I remember so much about my childhood but the thing that sticks out the most was those daddy daughter nights. My daddy now lives in another state but I talk to him daily.  He sends for my boys every summer and visits us twice a year.  My daddy influenced my life by showing me how a man should be and they should treat a lady.  I LOOOOVE MY DADDY!!

 Gramma is what we call my grandmother.   She was my mother’s only child so my grandmother was always around.  As I sit here and type this I get teary eyed because she’s know longer with us and I miss her sooooo much!  My grandmother made sure as children we were always educated on our family history.  She would take us to Mississippi every summer to visit our relatives.  My grandmother believed that we needed to know our relatives and she made sure we did.  My Grandmother made sure that we were always in the kitchen when she or my mother was cooking.  She believed that all women needed to know how to cook and this is why I love to cook.  When I started going back to school as an adult she would always tell me “baby I’m so proud of you”! When I think about her voice and her face I’m reminded of the love that she had for me and her family.  I want to make her even prouder of me by receiving my Master’s.  I know that she’s looking down at me and still saying” baby I’m so proud of you”!

 

  My sister is my best friend and a diva all the way.  My sister is the oldest of all my three children.  I talk to her at least five times everyday.  Her job requires her to work out of town a lot so we Skype and text as well. When we were growing up we were dressed alike and shared almost everything.  I remember we would play” house” and my brother and I would be her children.  When we would go outside she would always hold my hand and make sure I was safe.  Today when I think of how close we were I wanted my children to be the same with one another.  The only difference is my sister and I were two years a part and my son’s are eleven years a part.  But my oldest son’s always say you and “TT” do everything together and I always say “that’s my girl”!  My sister always tells me that I inspire her but she inspires me to find my inner diva!

My second and third grade teacher Mrs. Reed was my favorite teacher.  As her student I remember wanted to be just like her when I grew up.  She made teaching look easy and fun.  As a child I had a very hard time learning how to write in cursive so Mrs. White would stay after school to help me and some of the other students.  Mrs. White always told her class how much she cared about us all but I learned how much she cared about me the day Anthony B. pushed me down in the hall because I told him he couldn’t skip me in line.  Mrs. White saw him and came running down the hall to my rescue.  She garbed that Anthony B. and took him straight to the office for a paddle because at that time we could get paddle at school.  She then took me to her class and cleaned up my lip that was bleeding, hugged me and told me how very sorry she was for what he had done.  That entire week I was her helper and ate lunch with her the entire week. When I moved on to other classes I would always go in her class and help her with the smaller students.  I learned from Mrs. White the passion and love that teachers must have for their students.  Not only did she care about me I knew that she sincerely  cared about me and my education.