Crystal Clear Observations

I am thrilled and honored to be one of the mothers featured in ReShonda Tate Billingsley's new release entited "The Motherhood Diaries." ReShonda and I met in 2006 when we were both selected as one of ten Women on the Move from Texas Executive Women. After connecting with her on facebook, I quickly discovered her wit, contagious humor, genuine spirit and dedication to her writing. Quite simple, she is someone who is highly admirable. When I emailed her that she was one of my mother-in-law's favorite authors, she sent an autographed copy of her latest book to her. It made her month! ReShonda posted on facebook that mothers could submit entries for review for an upcoming book she was writing on motherhood. Initially, I wasn't going to submit an essay because I thought there was no way in hell that a novice writer like myself would ever appear in a book by a best-selling author. But I soon realized that overcoming fear was one of my greatest strengths. As pointed o...

April is a tough month for me. Once I get past all the silly April Fool's Day pranks (I've just never liked playing tricks on people), I am forced to ride an emotional roller coaster. My father passed away on Good Friday in 1991. Despite the number of years that have passed, I always remember him fondly as we head into the month of April. April 24th, 2007, was a day that I will never forget. It was the third worst day of my life. I heard the dreadful words "You have breast cancer." Each year, I always celebrate in some manner reaching another remission milestone but something tragic happened to our family on April 12th, 2011, that will forever cause my heart to ache in April each year. My husband and dog were attacked by two pit bulls and had to fight for their life. Sadly, only my husband survived. I'm actually embarrassed at how much losing my dog hurt and how it is impacted my life. I feel like a void exists despite having brought two new dogs (bichons) into ...

I just participated in my first "tweet up" as a media expert on a discussion about Race and Media. An Honors College graduate of The University of Houston in Radio & Television, I don't recall coursework or classes on this very important topic. When I was growing up, I wanted to be on the news. I was fascinated with the women on television who always appeared poised and polished and full of intellect. Problem was I didn't see many, if any in the early years, of news reporters who looked like me. In fact, in my senior year memory book I wrote that I aspired to be like Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters or Paula Zahn. I hadn't met the Melanie Lawson's, Mary Benton's, Minerva Perez' or Soledad O'Brien's of the world yet! Getting pregnant my sophomore year threw a monkey wrench in my plans. Even though I interned in Houston and worked briefly as a news producer after graduation, my obligation to parenthood was more important than working in media....

I've been wanting to get something off my chest for a long time....besides breast cancer. There is a disturbing trend in the survivorship community of self-motivated breast cancer survivor "rock stars". When I was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 35, I was devastated but took full accountability that I waited 8 months to see a doctor about my lump. Since my incompetent oncologist at that time made me feel that I only had a few years to live, I decided to embark full fledge on an awareness campaign, particularly in the African American community, so that no one else would have to endure a late stage diagnosis like me. My desire to save other women was my single motivating factor. If this could happen to me, this could happen to anyone. Over the past 6 years, I have met some wonderful and inspiring survivors. Many of these women also share my desire to raise awareness and encourage healthy lifestyles and early detection. But there is a disturbing trend of surviv...

I had a conversation last evening that will probably stay on my mind a long time. I called a woman for a work related discussion and after getting the project out the way, we began talking about our daughters. I told her how much I missed my daughter, who is away at college, and how hard it is living here without her. She paused and replied "At least your daughter is in college. My daughter died of cancer when she was 17." I was stunned. Searched for the right words to say but all I could muster up was "I'm sorry." Her daughter had been accepted into a prestigious university and wanted to be a pediatric oncologist. She planned on attending college because she never planned on dying. This mom started a nonprofit to help other families through a difficult time. Normal Moments, Inc. is devoted to supporting parents with critically ill children in the home, in the hospital, and via web resources so that they can spend as much time as possible sharing the most norm...

Well after much deliberation, I have decided to start my own blog. For some reason, people actually like my thoughts, observations and wicked sense of humor. I will be the first to admit that I am not as plugged in with social media as I should be but I am slowly adapting to new and efficient ways to be productive. I  think what inspired me most to begin a blog is some of the poor and malicious behavior I see demonstrated on facebook. At least with a blog, people actually WANT to be here. They want to read about your day, your trials and tribulations and your successes. Throughout this life journey, I have found that it is absolutely critical to have people in your corner who are like-minded, supportive and equally yolked. I used to think that was snobbish but time after time, I have painfully learned that when you have a life of purpose and productivity, those with less desires will attempt to pull you down with their own shortcomings. To quote Sweet Brown "Ain't nobody got ...