Chapter 14: Mentored in Skill Development

Growing up in a rural town in Alabama, it seemed as though my future opportunities were going to be very limited based on the obstacles before me. I was cared for by many family members, but specifically my grandparents. My grandparents raised ten children of their own and then raised my twin brother and me after my parents’ divorce. I am sure they never imagined being called to take in nine-month-old twins, but they did so with love and grace, raising us as their children. My grandparents provided us with what they could; what they could not provide, they hoped we would receive from the school. What many people did not realize, but was not uncommon at the time, was that neither of my grandparents could read or write. My grandparents, like many other African Americans from rural towns in Alabama, could not read nor write. Getting an education for them was not a reality, but it was a reality for their children and their grandchildren.