This month, my mother is celebrating her 80th birthday!!!  What a blessing!  Following is a picture taken after her college graduation in 1955.

Alice around 1955

The following photos were taken over the past couple of years.  You can still see that beautiful smile, warm heart and love of family!

Alice and daughter Andrea

Charmaine (granddaughter), Andrea (daughter), Alice and LaToya (granddaughter)

She is in good health, has a family that loves her, and is looking forward to celebrating her birthday.

My mother was born at home in Mobile, AL at 6:45 am by a midwife named Ms. Matthews.  According to her birth certificate, her father, Melzar Williams of Mobile, AL was 23 years old and worked as a delivery boy at the local grocery store.  Her mother, Inell Brown (maiden name) of Quitman, was 20 years old and worked out of the home as a housewife.

Alice was born prior to the Civil Rights movement.  She remembers all the nastiness surrounding segregation.  She also remembers being blessed with loving parents, a sister and many relatives.  She experienced love, fear, courage, confidence, hard work, prejudice and God’s blessings.  My mother has always been there when I needed her, and most of all when I didn’t know I needed her.  The following comes to mind:

• She was a hard worker.  Always balancing multiple projects – school, family, work – all at once and doing it well!
• My mother was there for me when I graduated from high school and helped me to go to college.  She found a way to pay for my education so that I did not have to take out a loan.  What a blessing!
• My mother was there for me when I was at a turning point in my first marriage.  She helped me to see beyond my current situation and move on to higher ground.
• My mother was there for me while I was a single parent in need of care for my children.  She took them in for extended periods of time so that I could do well in my job.
• My mother always listened to me complain about the job, the people on the job, how I felt I was being mistreated and she always offered sage advice that worked!

I will always remember my mother as my rock.  There was never a question of whether she loved me.  I knew she did!

Join me in congratulating my Mom on her 80th birthday!

Between The Dashes