THRIVING Melanin Family Magazine May 2017: A Mother's Love | Page 8

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
6
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.
THRIVE MAGAZINE
THRIVE MAGAZINE
7