Sistahs,

I can't seem to express how much I appreciate and LUV my life! I have learned this year that it is important to keep pushin', sometimes even fighten' for the things you deserve even when it seems that challenges are insurmountable. Last week my son and I went away for his birthday and a small business trip. We had such a great time together! I think of where I was just a couple of years ago - we could barely shop for food. During these times I knew that my life would change...I knew that I had to believe in myself even if life presented me with situations that seemed to tell another story. During those times my son went without many times...Like many young boys there has been a lack of consistent role models for him...I would always encourage him to be himself - to love himself, think for himself and do the right thing for that is really what a man is made of...On his 18th birthday I saw the emergence of a new young man. My co-workers constantly commented on him - his intelligence, his demeanor and his awareness. I am very proud to be his mother. I felt equally happy to be able to take him on a trip to celebrate a new chapter in his life - a self defined young manhood.

Happy Birthday!!!