To My Advantage

So, I know Blog # 4 (Could you walk in my shoes?) was deep. It need to be told for me, so I could move on. Telling that part of my story was like closure, a release lifted of my shoulders. This blog is a little different. Growing up wasn't always bad. I had some moments that I carry with me as I grow older so I could tell my kids and their kids ans so on.

Growing up I had a lot of moments where I look back and I chuckle to myself from time to time. For instance, I remember so well being in Houston with my Mom and Dad and my Aunt Dora and the boys at a Restaurant and it wasn't so great or that's what my mom thought. She thought it would be a great idea to tell me to pretend that I was feeling sick so she could use me as an excuse to get a refund. I must have done a great job because I remember the Manager being so scared that everything was on the house. There were a couple more times my mom would use me like that when I was small. I look back at those times and laugh because of me we would at times get a free meal. Another time, my mom was trying to get a car and it was a real nice one too but her credit just wasn't working out. The man that was helping her saw me and I remember he got down on his knees and gave me a pin he had on his suit jacket and pinned it on me and told me that he was going to make sure my Mom had that car. Well, we drove off with the car that night. Seriously, God has a way to make certain situations funny in the long runs.

When I was living with my Mama (Grandma) nobody could do anything to me because they would all get pinched. I swear I had nothing to do with that. My cousins hated me for the longest time because I was the "Golden Child" that could do no wrong. I did no wrong, I was a good child. Ok, maybe I had a little to do with the pinching that occurred. They would always say I had the advantage to everything with my Mama. That lady sure was my world. I could literally get away with anything with her. I know my cousins didn't think it was funny back then but we can now laugh at it now.

School? School, I tried to be somebody that would stand out. Tried to make friends the best way I knew how. I thought if I got in trouble in one way or another I would get some attention. I remember being in 8th grade in science class with Mr. Lucas, I wanted to leave the classroom and just walk around because I was bored. I asked him if I could go to the bathroom and he told me NO. So what do I do next? I took out my prosthetic eye and I rolled it to him and said, "Opps, I guess I need to go to the bathroom after all". He never told me no after that incident. Poor guy, if you only saw his reaction. I still laugh at this situation.

My mom always had a problem with people staring at me. She would literally tell them off and tell them to stop looking. Well, as I got older I took upon myself to have fun with it. I remember being at Walmart and these two kids were looking at me and whispering to each other about me so I decided it would be so much fun to take out my eye and run after them. Boh, were they screaming and running for their lives while I'm chasing them until I saw whom I'm assuming was their mom that I took a sharp turn and walked away like I did nothing wrong. Those days were awesome. I felt unstoppable.

To this day, 38 years later I can still use myself for my own advantage. I can get pulled over and get away with a ticket every single time. I've only gotten one ticket since I began driving. I can still go to restaurants and sometimes get a free meal. My life hasn't always been bad there are some amazing times I've had growing up. It has been different because of who I am on the outside but it has never stopped me from being me. As I continue to write my blogs you all will see my life story unfold. Again, I strive for transparency and being 100% real with you all.

Remember, you make what you want out of your own life. You only live once so make a good story to tell. Don't ever be afraid to go out there and make memories that will last a lifetime.