Observations From My Life, For Absent Fathers
As a daughter of an absent father, I’d like to suggest to fathers who have been absent that there is always a chance you can make your “mis-takes” better. After all my years in these shoes, it seems to me that it does make a difference that you at least try to make it right […]
What To Do On A Fatherless Father’s Day?
On Father’s Day, about 18.2 million children in the U.S. alone will wake up without a biological, step, or adoptive father in the home. If you include those of us who are already adults, the number easily doubles. This means that about 15% of the U.S. population may not have anyone to celebrate on Father’s Day. […]
Juneteenth: A Lot to Forgive, A Lot to Celebrate, A Lot Left to be Done
Although I immigrated to the United States, this has been my home for many years. I survived the shock and all the “learnings” it takes to understand the “issue” of race in the U.S. I close my office to honor the Juneteenth Holiday and make jokes about how I am not crazy enough to pretend this […]
Juneteenth: The Day Freedom Arrived…
I am a big celebrant of the Juneteenth holiday. I have noticed that some people don’t seem to respect or give it the importance it deserves. However, as a person of “African descent,” I acknowledge its importance and what my life would have been like if slavery had not been abolished. I don’t love the […]
When it Seems Difficult to be Grateful at Thanksgiving . . .
Given the many challenges in the world, some of us may find it difficult to be grateful amid what, for some, is sheer turmoil and chaos. As usual for most humans, we only care about what affects us, but as the world gets “smaller”, we can easily see suffering at the touch of a button. […]
The Value of Freedom: How a Runaway Slave Learned the True Cost of Living Life on Her Own Terms
Ona Judge, an enslaved woman on the estate of George Washington and his family, had the courage to escape a “privileged” life in captivity to find an uncertain, but priceless future in freedom. Ona Judge Staines Day was first celebrated in New Hampshire on May 21, 2022. The state honored her with a marker in […]
Letter Not Yet Written by Descendants of European Colonizers to the First Peoples of the Americas
Dear First Nations of the Americas, Our ancestors were wrong. They did not discover the Americas. You were here when they arrived. You had great civilizations and societies for thousands of years before they arrived. You are human, just like us, not savages. We apologize for them saying they discovered a place where there were […]
So, Who Are You Willing to Reproduce With?
A Good Picker Leads to a Good Partner Recently, I was watching a YouTube channel which made me think about the importance of fixing what I refer to in For the Love of my Father (2nd Edition), as a “broken picker.” For women, our picker is the instinct that guides us to a potential right partner. If […]
Celebrating the Survival of the Enslaved and Praying for Change in Human Understanding
My visit to Charleston, SC. Photo: Olivia S. Benson Although I was an immigrant to the United States, this has been my home for many years. I survived the shock and all the learnings it takes to understand the game of race in the U.S. I close my office to honor the day and always […]
Daddy Dearest – I Now Understand
I now understand, you didn’t really understand the Truth about life. I now understand, you didn’t really understand that in burying your head, you were simply passing along your pain. I now understand, the bullets you shot weren’t directed at me. I now understand, the pain that you bore that made you a soul, who […]