Dedication
My name is Barbara Ann Willis , a 61 year old female who has had a lot of trials and tribulations in my life , and I am dedicating this poem to a Woman who gave me birth and also taught me to live life to the fullest . I was born in Texas , where I lived for 10 years and then we moved to Oklahoma where I lived for 8 years . I live in Las Vegas , NV , where I have lived for almost 43 years . We moved from Texas to Oklahoma because my father tried to overdose my Mom with sleeping pills that he put in a warm glass of milk . My Mom , not being able to sleep at night because of my abusive father , she would always drink a warm glass of milk to help relax her . She didn ’ t drink or do drugs . My father was an alcoholic who went to prison for killing another female he was cheating with . He died in 1988 from a heart attack cheating with another female on his then wife , who was once my Mother ’ s friend . Thank God for that night when I went in to say goodnight to her and she wouldn ’ t wake up . I called my Grandmother who told me to call 911 and her life was saved . My Mom lived an abusive life for 10 years of my life , but because of her faith that she also instilled in me , she got the strength to move away to Altus , Oklahoma with her family right after she was released from the hospital . She taught me , no matter what , remain faithful to the Lord and He will guide your path to where you need to be . Mom taught me to love and forgive and be strong as a Woman . I regret the one thing Mom didn ’ t teach me , how to live without her ; she passed away from colon cancer , November 7 , 2009 . I was with her up until her last breath . I was 54 and she was 73 years old . I quit my job and went to take care of her . I almost lost my mind when I closed her eyes for the last time after she stopped breathing . She was my best friend who made sure I learned all I could in school . She sent me to the library when school was out to enroll in the reading contest every year . Because of this , I love reading and writing . I have written 4 books that are now being sold on Amazon . com because of her wanting me to read often . I love poetry and novels . I wrote my first poem when I was 15 years old to my boyfriend who became my husband of 24 years , called “ Puppy Love ”. We were together for 28 years before his death at the age of 42 years old when I found him dead in our bathroom . His heart wasn ’ t strong enough to pump the blood anymore because of his enlarged heart . I wanted to die with him , but my faith kept me from having a nervous breakdown . We have 4 children , Rodney , Tonya , Bruce Jr . and Anyika . My books are “ Life Storms-Poetry of my Heart ”, “ Walking on Shattered Glass Floors ”, Child within my Soul-Pieces of a Rainbow ” and “ Losing me … to You ”. It took me years to finish these books because of having no resources as to how to get them published hindered me . No one would help me and some wanted me to fail . But because of my Mom ’ s words , “ Have Faith ”, I never gave up .
6 THRIVE MAGAZINE