Life in Pink

“Count on me through thick and thin,  a friendship that will never end When you are weak I will be strong Helping you to carry on Call on me I will be there, don’t be afraid Please believe me when I say,  Count on.” Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds wrote this song and many others for the soundtrack of one of my favorite movies, Waiting to Exhale. I wrote those lyrics in my best friend’s yearbook in 2014, about 19 years after it was recorded. Today we are still best friends and not to brag but I have kept my word, or Babyface’s words, from then til now. The song itself is a promise between two friends that no matter what they may be going through, they will be there for one another. Whenever one is lacking, the other will pick up the slack. Their friendship will never end because they can depend on each other and they love each other. It’s the last song of the album and the song that plays at the end of the movie when the credits are rolling. At the end of the film, the four friends,...

“I can’t wait for this to be over so everything can go back to normal.”  It’s what everyone is saying. They’re tired of waiting in line to get into a store. Tired of fighting for Lysol spray and Clorox wipes. Tired of wearing a mask in public. Tired of being in the house.  They would much rather things go back to normal so they can get manicures, pedicures, wash and sets and haircuts, shape ups for the men. Boozy brunches and after work happy hours with friends are deeply longed for. Any social interaction that doesn’t include Zoom or FaceTime. Unfortunately, this is the new normal.  Those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to work from home, have been inside since the beginning of March, only leaving if necessary. I don’t think any of us knew that staying inside could be as draining and dreadful as it has been. There seems to be nothing to do, but to eat, sleep, and watch Netflix. But after 2 months, even that seems to have gotten old. It seems as if ...

     I met my grandmother for the first time last year. More specifically, I met my paternal grandmother for the first time on October 9th, 2019. You must understand the significance of this because my grandmother Barbara Hall Cherry, has been dead for as long as I’ve been alive. A little more than that, actually. In fact, Barbara Hall Cherry passed on April 30, 1996 exactly 6 months before I was born. She’s who I was named after.       Today is her birthday so it’s only right that I share my feelings, thoughts, and love that I have for her. Not only that but the story of how we met for the first time.      One of my favorite stories about my grandmother is a story my mom tells usually on my birthday. She said they were visiting Barbara while she was hospitalized for pneumonia and she kicked my mother out the room, telling her to “get that baby out of here.” Before my mother even knew she was pregn...