It’s Mother’s Day (5/8/11) and I have a little time before my oldest son and my grandson comes to visit. I spoke to my youngest son and his wife this morning just after his plane landed from Jerusalem (how exciting). And I shared yesterday with my middle son and his family. I’m counting my blessings. I’m a mother and a grandmother. I’m blessed because God had a plan to allow me to meet these people he has blessed me with in my family. You see, my mother and both my grandmothers couldn’t. They all died young when their children were babies. I never got a chance to meet my father’s mother. She died when my father was a baby. I never got a chance to meet my mother’s mother because she died when my mother was a baby. And I never got the chance to know my mother who died when I was just 2 years old. I can’t imagine who in the world would have raised my children if I had died.
God provided. He gave others to be mothers to me. Some of the others include, Mama Flintroy who cared for me from the time my mother died until she, herself, died. I was 10 years old. Mama Flintroy was my great aunt, and she had raised my mother when her mother (my grandmother and Mama Flintroy’s sister) died. Mama Flintroy was childless. God had strategically placed her in my mother’s life and in my life to step in and raise children that were not her own. I felt so loved by her until I don’t ever recall feeling like a motherless child. I’d like to think my mother also felt that love. I was a happy, pampered child. I thank God for showing me love through Mama Flintroy.
When she died, Mama (my stepmother) stepped in. She loved children and took me and my brother to raise as her own children. She was my role model during my pre-teen and teenage years. From her, I learned about being a homemaker. She gave me household chores. I learned how to clean, wash clothes and cook. I learned the importance of being responsible by getting a job and contributing to the household funds. She also taught me the value of keeping myself looking as good as I could at all times and would never take my excuse for being lazy. Because she was a beautician, I always wore the latest hairstyles. I thank God for her because she showed me how to dress, act and carry myself like a young lady.
After I married, my mother-in-law, Christine Hopkins, was a wonderful role model as a mother and grandmother. I was always interested in Continue reading →
BIRTHDAY DECLARATION
Posted on August 9, 2011 by Editor
“I Had My Fun If I Don’t Get Well No More”
This week on August 10, 2011 I turned 70 years old. A friend of mine asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I really had no answer except to say I would like to be surrounded by my three sons and their families. It’s a great day because I really have everything I ever wanted or needed. Those who know me know that I am the first male in my family to reach 70. My father died two weeks before he turned 70, and my brother died at 63. I’ve been married to my soul mate for 49 years, and we produced three sons, and they gave us seven grand children to carry on the Hopkins family legacy. At this moment everything is headed in the right direction.
My soul mate and I had our struggles over the years, financial and otherwise. We persevered and dedicated ourselves to our family and we made it to here. We have been blessed to be in business for most of our married life, some failures and some successes. We have been blessed to travel to the West African countries of Gambia, Senegal and the Ivory Coast, and to European countries of Italy, France, and England. Then there’s been Jamaica, Mexico, and across America. However, there’s no place I’d rather be than at home, and no life I’d rather live than mine. Well, maybe one more trip to Africa, and maybe taking Miss Ruthie back to Paris one more time to shop.
What grieves me is also what makes me happy. Continue reading →