Happy birthday!

Happy birthday

I celebrate my 39th birthday today. Not only my birthday but the one who gave birth to me. She would have been 55 this year. She was 16 years old when she gave birth to me and 10 years later in 1993, she passed on. This was a defining moment in my life. I have thousands of thousands of thoughts and memories and only one picture. My baby sister gave me her ID book with her passport photo in it. I carried this picture of my mom for years in my bag. This is the only tangible item of value I have of my mom. Happy birthday is not only to me but to her…. happy birthday. Your memories will live on and on in our hearts.

My friend Jason Jaffray heard my story and turned a simple ID picture worth so much to me and my family into something I can not explain…. “Thank you so much for the painting I cannot describe how feel but having and seeing the picture of my mother is just so emotional. My heart aches” my sister Beverly said. It is not a sad story at all. We remember!

To Jason, your gift is so remarkable, it gave a new meaning to our family history. I call your name Katie Maarman-Michaels….

I call your Boeta Freddie

I call your name: aunt Judy,

I call your name aunty Martha,

I call your name aunt Catherine M,

I call your name Abraham,

I call your name Angelo,

I call your name Henry,

I call your name Nene Catherine H,

I call your name aunt Caroline,

I call your name uncle Eldit,

I call your name Boeta Quinton,

I call your name Chris,

I call your name uncle Jonas,

I call your name aunt Rosie,

I call your name Ineke,

I call your names and many more for covering and protecting me over the years. This was the family and the community at work….for me…it did take a village to raise a child.

Happy birthday!