CHAPTER 11: EVEN TRAILBLAZERS NEED MENTORS

Although I spent most of my childhood in a single-parent family home, I was blessed to enjoy a few years in a stable two-parent family while my mother was married to my stepfather, a strong, family man. Although they divorced while I was in middle school, I am blessed to have learned a lot from him and still have his presence and influence in my life today. All of my parents have earned at least an associate degree or vocational license. Both my biological father and my stepfather were disciplined military men with stable careers in their chosen fields, while my mother broke barriers in her field and earned awards for her service. I mostly enjoyed my lowerto middle-class lifestyle but did not recognize it as such until later in life. In fact, while my mother was married, I thought we were rich. It was not until my adolescent years that a lack of finances became a bit more apparent when my mother had to say no to my requests for things that she felt I deserved.