I Am Grateful To All My Surrogate Parents

Today, I think about Miss Joyce Arnold, whose life touched and influenced my journey significantly.  Jay passed away about a month ago in Belize.  I met her when I was a young girl of eleven years old when she moved to the ghettos of Yarborough where I then lived with my single-mother family.  My father was never around after I reached age seven, and my mother courageously kept her family together to the best of her ability until we were teenagers.   For this of  I also give credit to  a wide range of extended family members who participated in raising me up from the abyss of a daunting childhood.  Jay was one of those people.  She favored and respected me from the first day we met.  In her sublime manner, she helped me from age eleven, through my teenage years.  She never said no to me when I went to her for help, and her face would often display her concern for my well-being.  She sat down and talked to me when I needed her...always finding time for me.  No matter where I ran into her, she was always the same to me...and I love her with all my heart.


Today, I am grateful to Miss Joyce and my other surrogate mothers (and fathers) along the way.  Those ladies who stepped in when my mother couldn't be there...when she failed or was just felt hopeless.  Someone always stepped in to help raise me up.  They all had different roles in my life journey, and many  roles overlapped.  There were those who fed me, some clothe me, some nurtured my mind,  shared knowledge, some taught me lessons about love and life, and those who accepted me in their hearts and loved me through those difficult years.  Jay did it all for me.  She loved me, gave me allowances, fed me, have clothed me in the past, and encouraged me to keep on going.  She wanted me to succeed, and did whatever she could to ensure my success.  She also taught me some things about poise, and self-esteem, and courage.  I thank you Jay, and am really sorry I was not there to see you off.  Farewell sweet lady...farewell my surrogate mother.  I love you very much, and ask you to continue helping me from the other world.