Thank you Mom and Dad for "raising me right"

Western Kentucky Lady 'Topper Basketball 97-98 team

I know the world is filled with a plethora of things right now that make us all sad. They make us uncomfortable. They make us angry. 

We have multiple pandemics encircling our land. One is named COVID. But it isn't the only battle raging. 

I have never experienced racism. And while I know it exists, I am proud to say that my life has been filled with beautiful people of all colors. I genuinely didn't think it was a "thing" because my experiences were always so positive.

Obviously, I was naive ... but I blame the amazing people and situations in my life for those lessons.

The amazing Holmes family who were my "Florida" family and Bible Study leaders for so many years.

I am so thankful for the city I grew up in where our Bible Study leaders were a mixed race family. I didn't know this was unique or "not normal" until I left the confines of a "beach town" where islanders made up so much of our community.

Of course, I imagine that during my growing up years in Fort Lauderdale there were problems I never saw. But what I saw (and what my friends with different color skin that grew up there with me have told me) was that we were all mostly immune to much of this due to the amazing church community we spent our childhood in.

Thank you Abundant Life Christian Centre of Margate, Florida for truly teaching me to see into the hearts of people and not the color of people.

My parents were both transplants from Illinois. We did not have any "real" family in South Florida. But we had family. And nearly none of them looked like us. 

My "roommate" Yvette with her grandchildren today.

We had an African American woman and her daughter live with us for a period of time. Yvette and her daughter Amanda were our family. I learned how to braid Amanda's hair (and I also learned that taking out those braids too early could make her Mom pretty frustrated for all that hard work down the drain!)

My mom and her good friend and neighbor, Island and her daughter, Dasmi -- long-time members of their home church.

My parents played a huge role in my outlook toward race. My Dad and Mom told me often: "You can marry a man of any color skin. We just want his heart to love Jesus."

And I knew they meant it.

Thank you Dad and Mom for those powerful words. To this day, you lead a home church filled with amazing folks that are from all over the map, but it doesn't cause any discomfort. You all are family. You model that. You always have. The words you used were always positive. You lived LOVE for every color of people that made up our family in Fort Lauderdale.

Western Kentucky Lady 'Topper Basketball 97-98 team

I imagine that during my four years of college at Western Kentucky University playing basketball with the ladies pictured above (and Jason!) that my African American teammates faced things that I didn't see or didn't know about or didn't understand.

But in our locker room, I genuinely felt that we were just family. We made jokes and laughed at each other's choice of foods and music. We were there for each other during crisis's both on and off the court. My teammates taught me dance moves and ribbed me about my role as the "team mom."

These ladies HAD MY BACK. And while I wasn't as tough as many of them, I had their back too. We were sisters. We were family. 

I loved them.

I still do.

I'm thankful for each and every one of them. I know if I called them today, they would STILL be there for me and still laugh at my high water jeans and lack of knowledge about anything related to snow.

My volleyball team at Franklin-Simpson High School; these girls made a HUGE impression in my life and heart as a young adult.

The first time I ever realized the world was different than South Florida and college was when I moved to a little town called Franklin, Kentucky. This was truly a town in the deep "south" and when they had a basketball reunion game, I noticed that there was a team gathered from the "black school" before desegregation had occurred! These men were in their 60's and had lived in America when they were separated from the white community! This was unfathomable to me.  Coach "C" whom I coached basketball with, had been the principal during the first years of desegregation! It was amazing to see this up-close-and-personal and learn so much about how different parts of our country approached race. 

Thank you to J'Nora and Kita and TK and so many others who welcome me your southern town ...

I learned a lot during my time in Franklin but found that as I opened my heart, I was welcomed with wide-open arms into all of my girls' hearts during this time -- no matter what color they were. 

It was stumbling upon the picture at the very top of this post that caused my heart to start reeling and my fingers to start typing. While this is a hard time in our world, I am so HOPEFUL. Hopeful that I can raise and train my children as wonderfully as my parents trained me ...

To love ALL people. It does not matter ANYTHING about them. Nothing on the inside or the outside. The greatest commandment is LOVE.

Thank you to all the people in my life of ALL COLORS that have showed me that love. 

I am a better person because of all of you. 

And together, we will continue to learn,