Part I Even as a child I had a rebellious streak unlike anyone else in my family. I didn’t realize it of course until I had the back of my hands popped with a ruler about 5 times from Mrs. Hatfield when I was in the 5th grade. “You have to learn that you cannot talk to your teacher this…
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Part II In 1927 they lost my birth certificate. I was born of course, but there was no proving it, or so Mama said. She acted as though it wasn’t a big deal in the least. This resulted in confusion of how old I was for many, many years to come. How was I ever going to prove I was really…
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Do you ever wonder how many people feel alone? Dear Julie, We’ve been friends for a long time. So many years ago, things were light and carefree. Easy. We didn’t stop being friends but our lives took different paths. I realized I sat back much too often. I watched the tailspin of chronic illness enter your life with 3 yr…
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Part III Papa’s behavior towards us became worse over the following year. We would hear him slap Mama on more than one occasion after a night of drunkenness. He was harsh and rough with us, especially if we were punished. He avoided us the rest of the time. I wanted to run to Mama and comfort her and I wanted…
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Part IV Around the time my second child was born in 1959, my younger brother Edward had become a pastor and started a church on the outskirts of Holly Hill in a town called Laurinburg. I went often to support him at first, and then more out of desperation. My life looked incredibly different than I’d ever hoped it would….
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