My mom is 92. I married young, moved away and was gone for 30 years.

I showered her with material things, but I was #7 child of 12, which means I was the lost child anyway. I stayed home until I was 18. All of my memories were burned in a fire.

All of the pictures we sent mom from away were burned in a fire she had.

I promised God and my children that they will have memories of me forever. No matter what you may think of social media, I love it. Facebook has provided us an everlasting scrap book.

With that being said, I want to say something that only Pastor children, children of politicians, actors, judges, lawyers and other public figures can relate to.

Children of the stated professions sacrifice their parents to the masses.

It has taken me this long to admit that we children feel abandoned and neglected.

Many seek love in all the wrong places, get into trouble for acting out, and many become suicidal for feeling like they cannot measure up to the impossible standards, the public judge us by.

I remember vowing to never go to church again because I stayed in church so much as a child.

I had a brother who refused to go to church at all unless it was a funeral or a program for my mom.

The Lord is leading me to say this because I may save someone else who is struggling with sharing their parents.

When I moved back to Ocala, I assumed things would be better. I assumed that it did not matter how much time I lost with my parents: I was wrong.

God gave me a second chance. Although, I was child #7, I was able, through fate, to spend the last year of my father’s life caring for him, listening to him as he imparted his memories, his advice, his raw love for me, to me.

I found out when they get old, their recent memories fade and their long-term memory or past is ever present, accurate, and unvarnished.

God saved all of that for me. I was able to record, video, and implant in my brain all of that wisdom.

My dad prepared me for life and caring for the elderly, I have become more empathetic.

Now, that my mom has reached that age, still more aware to time and place than my father, God placed me as the only biological daughter to be there for her.

Yesterday, as we celebrated her 92nd birthday, I looked back and said thank you Jesus. It truly is Biblical. The life race is not given to the swift but to the one that endures to the end.

Spending quality time with your parents is so important. If you have shared your parents with the public, if you have felt slighted, ask God to heal those broken places.

Your parents had a purpose greater than themselves, especially, those chosen by God. They must submit to God’s Will. They are not perfect, they are not “extraordinary” they are humans used by God, imperfect humans but willing vessels.

God chose your parents because of the good (DNA). He do not give us more than we can carry. God knew that I was tough, and though many times I felt alone even with my own family, I had a husband and children as I moved from place to place, I still wanted my mom or my dad at moments they were occupied fulfilling their ordained missions.

Reflecting back. God always put older people in my life to be mother or father figures to me. Thanks to my Prince Hall family and my Alpha Kappa Alpha Family, no matter where we moved, God put people in my life to fill those empty spaces.

Now that I am home, God is fulfilling his purpose for me like He did Joseph, He gave me time with my parents. He saved time just for me.

You can spend your time reading my posts, the way you want, you can spend your time hating me for sharing or you can glean from my experience and celebrate boldly and unapologetically with me as I help some child of a preacher, principal or public figure who may be struggling, with anger, anxiety, depression, or oppositional defiance because of a feeling of neglect.

Look at the cup half full, and know that if you hold on, God will give you the time that you longed for.

Thank you to all who respond to my posts, to all of my videos. Know that your likes, your disgusts, your hearts, and even your criticisms let me know that you thought enough to respond…These books in the pictures below answers the (why) I share raw and unapologetically on social media. I know that if a hurricane, tornado, or a fire will cause me to lose my memories, my life memories are preserved.

I cannot share pictures of me as a little girl because they were destroyed. Before you criticize social media, look at the cup half full. Hard drives, thumb drives all can be damaged but an off site cloud exists forever.

You do not know what people are dealing with so always follow Jesus’ example. Do not judge or condemn others, pray for them, get to know them.

I will always be Unapologetically Raw with my friends, my frienemies, and my enemies.