I dated a gang member and I even got arrested. My mother's call was to move me to Vermont to live with my father and to be mentored by my Great Aunt Hester Sanders. I got much needed counseling, where I made and reached goals pertaining to my mental health, physical health and purpose in life. I also got a lot of time learning to use everyday materials to craft my own clothes and gifts for my family. My "Gram" Hester paid a lot of attention to me and her no-nonsense mentoring style made me believe in my dreams and live a better life. She was enthusiastic about my learning self-sufficiency and was my biggest cheerleader. Her mentoring was the best gift I could have ever asked for. I ended up graduating as Co-Salutatorian of my class at Whitcomb HighSchool and in the top three of my class at Vermont Technical College. I was accepted to Emory University, and went there for a year, but I missed Vermont and my family. I now craft with a new purpose, to make such items that will sell to afford training as a parenting facilitator, labyrinth facilitator and champion of social change. I want my Gram Hester's legacy to be that there are creative home décor items for folks to decorate their homes with AND a warrior in the fight to help all children achieve their own version of success.
