Winston-Salem, NC

Winston-Salem, NC: "(Grand)Mother's Day"

I've been home for a few days now, after a short but lovely trip to Raleigh and Chapel Hill. For Mother's Day, my longest friend, Sara Klinepeter (first from left), organized a brunch for her family, me, and Granny. Her mother, my "Momma K, (pictured right) " is someone who I consider a surrogate mother in addition to Granny, and I was proud to be there with both of them.

While I was home, I went through some of my old journals (I have a score or two). I came upon this piece, written sometime in the winter of 2002. Although the poem wasn't originally describing my grandmother, I based it on my relationship to her struggle in raising me:




Untitled

My childhood shone into that straining back;
The purple dress sheathing,
Unflinchingly feeling
All Grandmother's body.

-APB 2002







A big thanks to Granny for the movie, dinner, and not giving up on me . :) Can you believe she raised a second family starting in 1996? Fifty years after she had her first child, she was raising two more, but this time, by herself.

-APB