About Me

We all have that one person in our lives to push us to keep going no matter what comes our way. My grandmother was that person for me. Even at a young age, I could tell that she understood me and never took me for granted. She took me under her wing and talked to me about her life and shared stories that I will never forget. The only thing is I’m not quite sure she knew how her life experiences would motivate me even after she was gone.

My grandmother had a beautifully decorated green thumb. She could grow anything. I remember one day I was skating in front of her house and learned an ugly truth. Roses have thorns. Of course, I started to cry and my grandmother took my hand and wiped it clean, and said, “they’re beautiful but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t protect themselves. That’s how they protect themselves from the things that try to eat them birds or bugs. If they didn’t have thorns they wouldn’t be so beautiful”. My grandmother had a way of taking the simplest piece of information and making it profound. But, it wasn’t until I was older that I realized the seeds she planted in me.

As I grew our relationship blossomed and she began to trust me with more and more of her lessons. Sometimes I would find myself inside with her letting her water me with her words.

I lost my grandmother when I was 16 years old and I can honestly say that I have missed her every day since. Her love for words, her patience with me, her ability to see the beauty in something as simple as a rosebud, taught me all I needed to know about the kind of woman I am rooted into. Her blood courses through my veins and the older I get the more and more I see her spirit alive in me. I simply want to make her proud. I am and will always be her Black Rose.