role model
Crowning Achievements FormerMiss AmericaKimberly Cockerham knows the value of a good home WRITTENBYCINDY SCHWEICH HANDLER
As a10-year-old , former Miss
America Kimberly Aiken Cockerham was at alocal park with aneighbor and family friend when she experienced an excruciating headache . She was taken to an emergency room , where doctors determined that an arteriovenous malformation — atangle ofabnormal blood vessels — inher brain required surgery . Cockerham was put on medication to stop her internal bleeding , and had her operation over the following summer . “ One wrong move with the scalpel could have caused lasting effects ,” she says . Years later , she would find , the same type of surgery was conducted bythe same doctor on Senator Ted Kennedy .
It ’ s likely most of us would be afraid to endure tricky brain surgery at such atender age , but Cockerham shrugs off the suggestion . “ I don ’ trecall being afraid at all ,” she says .“ Ithink it goes back to my childhood and the support system Ihad . Ifelt like Iwas going to be fine .”
She concedes that her parents , high school sweethearts who raised her and her younger sister near extended family in Columbia , South Carolina , probably suffered some sleepless nights . But “ they allowed me to focus on being akid ,” she says . “ So many don ’ t have that .”
The confidence Cockerham ’ s close-knit family cultivated in her gave her the strength to not only rebound from setbacks , but toforge ahead and break barriers . In September 1993 , she was crowned the first Black Miss South Carolina , and went on to become the fifth Black Miss America . Millburn & Short Hills Magazine recently spoke with the Maplewood resident about cultivating resiliency , giving back and moving forward in the age ofCOVID-19 .
THERE SHE IS ( Clockwise from left ) As the newly-crowned 1994 Miss America , Kimberly Aiken waves to the crowd at the Atlantic City Convention Center ; the 1993 Miss America , Leanza Cornett , eyes the crown once more before encouraging her successor to walk down the runway .
“ I DON ’ T RECALL BEING AFRAID AT ALL ( OF BRAIN SURGERY ). ITHINK IT GOES BACK TO MY CHILDHOOD AND THE SUPPORTSYSTEM I HAD . IFELTLIKE IWAS GOING TO BE FINE .”
KIMBERLYAIKEN COCKERHAM
THIS PAGE : TIMOTHY A . CLARY / AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES ; OPPOSITE PAGE : COURTESY OFMAURI SOLAGES PHOTOGRAPHY
8 HOLIDAY 2020 MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE