Happy Holidays!!

Hey Lovies,

I trust that everyone is enjoying a wonderful holiday season. Mine was filled with much, much love and a little bit of bad news. My mother fell on the 26th at church and broke her leg. Needless to say, all of my holiday cheer completely STOPPED at the moment I received the call from my Dad and I immediately began the process of going to Michigan to see her and help take care of her. At the writing of this post, I am still in Michigan and plan to be here for the next 3 days or so.

Last night, as I french braided my mother's hair, I let myself feel the different textures of her relaxed, broken hair. Admired the swirls of charcoal, silver and white strands throughout and cursed under my breath and the broken patches from years of chemicals, heat and meds. Her thick head full of strong shiny black long hair has changed forever to streaks of silver, and white showing off her stuggles, frustrations and the wisdom she has gathered through the years. Each strand tells its own story of the struggle, OUR struggle, life's struggle, the black thang............

My mother's hair is the statement of a generation that said "we understand what we have to do to be accepted in society and we will do all that we can to make sure our daughters understand too". She taught me to take pride in my bushy hair, tame it, keep it clean and healthy, care for it properly, never be a slave to the beauty shops and most importantly, to look presentable at all times and never (in her own words) go out "lookin bad about the head". Even though her hair has suffered years of abuse and she did her best to educate me the way she had been miseducated I only love and admire her for her strength and efforts. I am her and she is me.......
NOW, I wear my braidlocks with even more pride mostly because society wouldn't let her venture out of the norm even for a minute. She IS my queen!!

Thanks Mama!!!!!