I was halfway to work when a sudden feeling took over my entire being. I don’t know how to explain it other than to say it was a feeling of incredible sadness and heartache. It was physical and heavy. It overwhelmed me while I was driving and I didn’t understand why I was feeling this way. Stranger still, at the moment I started feeling this immense sorrow the name of a boy I went to elementary school with came into my mind as clear as a bell. Tommy Stevens*. I hadn’t seen, talked to, or thought about Tommy in over a decade. Although he was a nice kid, we were never close friends and I had no idea where he went after our few years together in elementary school. The feeling passed as quickly as it came and I didn’t give it much more thought as I arrived at work. About a half hour into my shift my mother called me and before we hung up she said “Oh by the way, I don’t know if you remember him from elementary school or not but I heard today that Tommy Stevens died. They found his body in the Anacostia River.”

This blog is going to sound like an infomercial.  It’s not.  But it’s the truth. If you know me well you will know that I like to eat.  Hell you can look at me and tell that I’m not an “I’ll just have a side salad and a glass of water” chick.  I’m not much … Continue reading "How I Lost 19lbs In 5 Weeks"

When I first realized that I had the ability to transform my life, my emotions, and my perspective into songs, I was filled to the brim with joy.  I remember how free I felt.  Free and vulnerable.  Exposed.  It was like everything inside of my soul had finally found a way out and there was … Continue reading "Watch Me Fly ~Then & Now"

**Note..I wrote this blog a few years ago when my friend April Sims  asked me to do a guest blog for Black History Month.  I recently saw a news article that was giving statistics about what races were more likely to have friends outside of their own race and I felt a little sad that … Continue reading "The Yellow Bead"

I was working the evening shift at a store in a mall a million years ago and I was ringing up a customer at the front desk.  She was an older white woman….sweet as pie….but she appeared uncomfortable as she stood there looking all around her.  She pulled her purse close to her and leaned … Continue reading "The “N” Word"