Never Settle for Less, Always the Best: Stop the Violence with Guns, Drugs, Sex & Alcohol Abuse in the Black Society

By Marian Olivia Heath Griffin

My motto is: “Instead of harming ourselves and our children with opium and other drugs, alcohol, sex, guns and hatred, malice and racism, we as Blacks and Whites, Latinx and Asians and Indians and all in between need to manage disappointment, poverty, and living with stress to the extent that our choices allow us to leverage intelligence and energy in order to produce and create a level beyond “good enough” to outstanding.

A parent or guardian’s responsibility as caregiver to their children’s mental, physical and moral development provides an impetus to make the world in which their children live be a better place to live. We must help our new generations make a clear path for the future and make the future a reality, creating a time in which our current struggles are nothing more than a distant memory.

A moral voice must be available to all Americans as we make a concerted effort to value and respect and love all our Creators creatures -great or small.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669806288

Marian Olivia Heath Griffin

Marian Olivia Heath Griffin lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with her husband of fifty-eight years. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and College Administrator (retired) for thirty-six years, the last seven years as Director of International Student Affairs. After she retired from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, she decided to utilize her degree in Mass Communication and Photography to tell her people’s stories and history. Griffin graduated from Delaware State University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology and Psychology, a Master’s Degree program in Atlanta University School of Social Work, a Master’s Degree program at Gammon Theological Seminary of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta. She received her Master’s Degree from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in Psychological Counseling and Social Work. She received a Master’s Degree in Educational Supervision and Mass Communication and Photography from Southern University. She did further study at Louisiana State University and Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She studied Genealogy at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library in Baton Rouge. She has traveled over the fifty states of the U.S. and six of the seven continents. She has written eighteen books in two years, published them with XLIBRIS and compiled and published two photo books with MYCANVAS BY ALEXANDER. She is proud of her three children: Rev. Bertrand, II (Rev. Kotosha Seals Griffin), Karen G. Phenix, (Keith Phenix) and Dr. Michael (Tracie Haydel Griffin). She adores her eight grandchildren: Nia, Kiara, Christian-Paris, Michael, II. Amelia-Grai, Victoria, Olivia and Sophia – all Griffins and one god-child, Whitney White, one great grandchild – Keomi Phenix, one great- godchild, Amelia Pleasant and her brother, Warren, six great- nieces, Whitney Foucheaux, Amoree Sanders, and Danee Heath, Tikia and Lentia Brown, and great nephews: Bobbie, Jr., Enrique and Alberto Garcia, Tyler Heath, Lauren and Kee Kee Dennis, Arshawon Brown (recently deceased), Willie, Jermaine. Brown, Michael Martin and sons, and Devonte Walker.

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Copyright © 2022 by MARIAN OLIVIA HEATH GRIFFIN.

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Rev. date: 01/07/2022

Xlibris

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OTHER BOOKS BY

MARIAN OLIVIA HEATH GRIFFIN

CULTURAL GUMBO, OUR ROOTS, OUR STORIES

A DIARY OF LETTIE’S DAUGHTER

THEN THERE WAS NIA

BORN IN A SHACK DID NOT HOLD ME BACK

CHATS WITH MY THREE OLIVIAS

MAMA FANNIE

ENCHANTMENT IN ATL

THE DAY I MET NANO

WATCH YOUR STEP, YOU ARE SOMEONE’S HERO

EACH DAY A NEW HIGH

A LOAF OF BREAD AND A CUP OF TEA,

KEEPING YOUR MARRIAGE ALIVE

A VOICE CALLS IN THE NIGHT, FIND

MY PEOPLE, SAVE MY PEOPLE

ACHIEVEMENTS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

OF AFRICAN AMERICANS

BEFORE AND AFTER THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

A BLIND HEART AS I SEE IT

LOOK TO THE LIGHT, SISTERS

TALK TO MY HANDS

SUFFER THE INNOCENT CHILDREN

MEETING AT THE FIRES

I KNOW ME

STRAIGHTEN UP, AMERICA: WHY NEW GENERATIONS

OF AFRICAN AMERICANS MUST CHANGE AMERICA

IN HIS OWN IMAGE: HOW I GOT OVER

THE FAMILY OF MARIAN HEATH GRIFFIN

THE FAMILY OF HATTIE DRUCILLA WISE HEATH

DEDICATED TO:

THOSE PERSONS WHO KICKED SEX AND

ALCOHOL ADDICTION AND DRUG HABITS

AND ARE LIVING A BETTER LIFE

CONTENTS

DEDICATED TO:

AUTHOR’S NOTES

BULLIES WERE FRIENDS

BULLIES EVERY WHERE

CRACK COCAINE EPIDEMIC

A TEST OF FAITH

ADOLESCENCE RELATIONSHIPS

BUT WE ARE NOT THERE YET!

EDUCATION IS THE FIRST KEY

COMMUNICATION IS THE SECOND KEY

SELF-RESPECT AND DISCIPLINE

FIGURE OUT WHO YOU ARE

LIFE’S JOURNEY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PROLOGUE

AMBITION

INTRODUCTION

OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO OTHERS

FALSE TEACHERS AND THEIR DESTRUCTION

THE INCIDENT AT THE DMV OFFICE

LAITY SPEAKER

PART ONE—DRUG CULTURE, ILLICIT SEX AND ALCOHOL ABUSE IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN SOCIETY MUST END

CHAPTER 1    BARACK OBAMA

LEAVE THE NEIGHBORHOOD

BARACK OBAMA SEARCHES FOR CONNECTION

BARACK OBAMA’S HOPE

CHAPTER 2    OPRAH WINFREY

THEY SAID

KITTY KELLEY SAID

AT THE WHITE HOUSE

$40 MILLION DOLLAR SCHOOL IN SOUTH AFRICA

CHAPTER 3    MAYA ANGELOU

MAYA’S FORMATIVE YEARS IN STAMPS, ARKANSAS

SPOKESWOMAN FOR WOMEN AND AFRICAN AMERICANS

MAYA’S CAREER IN ACTING, SINGING AND DANCING

COOK BOOKS

POETRY

PICTURE BOOKS

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

MAYA’S WORLD SERIES

DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING’S REQUEST

SPEAKER AT SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY AND LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY

MAYA ANGELOU DIED

CHAPTER 4    GLADYS KNIGHT

GLADYS’ BIRTH

SINGING WITH THE CHOIRS

TED MACK ORIGINAL AMATEUR HOUR

ATTACKED

RIPPED OFF

AFTER GRADUATION FROM HIGH SCHOOL

THRILLED IN HARLEM, NEW YORK

THRILLED IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA

SINGING ON FIRST RECORD

MIND YOUR MANNERS

GLADYS’ BREAK WITH THE PIPS

DREAMING OF GREATNESS

BRAVERY IN IT ALL

A SUCCESSFUL TOUR—1988 LOVE OVERBOARD TOUR

A SPECIAL TIME WITH GLADYS KNIGHT

CHAPTER 5    WHITNEY HOUSTON

WHITNEY’S BIRTH

WHITNEY’S MOTHER, CISSY’S STORY

WHITNEY WAS BULLIED

WHITNEY’S STAR-SPANGLED BANNER AT THE SUPER BOWL

WHITNEY’S TEENAGE FRIEND

WHITNEY SANG AT THE WHITE HOUSE FOR NELSON MANDELA

WHITNEY’S ACTING CAREER

WHITNEY’S FATIGUE

WHITNEY’S FATHER STARTED HIS OWN COMPANY, THEN DIED

DRUGS IN THE CELEBRITY’S FAMILY

THE ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS

WHITNEY FILED FOR A DIVORCE FROM BOBBY BROWN

WHITNEY’S TOUR AFTER DIVORCE

ON FEBRUARY 11, 2014, WHITNEY DIED

CHAPTER 6    ROBYN CRAWFORD

FROM INTIMATE LOVE TO AGAPE LOVE

ROBYN’S CONTRIBUTION

BOBBY BROWN AND WHITNEY

CHAPTER 7    BOBBY BROWN

BOBBY BROWN’S CHILDHOOD

WHITNEY: BOBBY’S WIFE

BOBBY WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER

BOBBY’S MOTHER AND FATHER DIED IN 2011

BOBBY MOVING TO A NEW LEVEL

WHITNEY HOUSTON DIED

BOBBI KRISTINA’S DEATH

BOBBY BROWN’S LEGACY

CHAPTER 8    MICHAEL JACKSON

JACKSON FAMILY HOME LIFE

MICHAEL’S POEM TO HIS MOTHER:

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

JACKSON FAMILY SING-ALONGS

NOT ALL PEACHES AND CREAM

THE JACKSON FIVE’S AUDITION AT MOTOWN

YOUR LIFE IS LIKE A SHIP

A FAMILY TRAGEDY

TRIUMPH

MICHAEL’S CONTINUED SUCCESS

MICHAEL’S DEDICATORY ROOM

THIS DAY BEWEEN NOVEMBER 2003 AND MARCH 2005

HE’S DEAD

MICHAEL’S LEGACY

CHAPTER 9    KEVIN HART

THE SHOULDER-SHRUG

A BIG BREAK

KEVIN HART NOW

KING OF COMEDY

CHAPTER 10  TUPAC SHAKUR

TUPAC SHAKUR’S INFLUENCE ON BLACK YOUTH

TUPAC’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS

BECOMING A STAR

ATTEMPTED MURDER ON TUPAC

TUPAC’S ACHIEVEMENTS AND LEGACY

PART TWO—EXTRAORDINARY ORDINARY PEOPLE

CHAPTER 11  JACKIE ARTHUR

A FRIEND INDEED

ELEANOR’S NEEDS WERE MET

ON THE JOB TRAINING

ELEANOR AND JACKIE, WELL CONNECTED

JACKIE GAVE EFFECTIVE SERVICE

JACKIE TELLS HER OWN STORY

JACKIE OVERCOMES AND HAS BEEN MADE STRONG

BENNIE, JACKIE’S HUSBAND’S STORY

OUR TEST IN PROGRESS

CHAPTER 12  ARSHAWON BROWN

THAT FATEFUL DAY

THE EVENT THAT CHANGED HIS LIFE

ANOTHER TEEN’S STORY

TEEN CULTURE

REACHING OUT TO FIND FAMILY

CHAPTER 13  BILLY PEPPER

BILLY’S BIRTH

RESEARCH ON PRE-TERM INFANTS

PHYLLIS’ EMANCIPATION FROM THE FAMILY

BILLY RESURFACED

MARY, BILLY’S SISTER

BILLY AS A TEENAGER

CHAPTER 14  CLAYTON MOORE

CHURCH DAYS

SOCIALIZATION IN INFANCY

THE MOTHER TURTLE

THE HUMAN MOTHER

CLAYTON’S MOTHER

CLAYTON CALLED MY MOTHER, MOM

YOUR LOVING ARMS

CHAPTER 15  ARNOLD BLACKWELL

ARNOLD’S STORY

TWO BLIND MEN RECEIVED THEIR SIGHT

ARNOLD LEAVES HOME

NOTHING TO GIVE BUT LOVE

THE LONG RIDE TO COLLEGE

ARNOLD’S MOTHER DIED

YEARS LATER A GIFT FROM ARNOLD

GOD’S WAY IS ALWAYS ACTION

CHAPTER 16  JOSEPH B. JO JO HEATH, JR

JO JO AS A CHILD

HIGH SCHOOL ADMITTANCE

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

MILITARY ACTIVITY AND COLLEGE LIFE

RECEIVED A LICENSED PRACTICAL NURSING DIPLOMA

JO JO AS A PRECEPTEOR

ADULT RESPONSIBILITIES

GREAT LEVEL OF SUCCESS

FAMILY

CHAPTER 17  DARNELL EVANS

OUR NEW SON

THE MOTHER RETURNED TO PRISON

WE ARE ALIVE

WE GOT MARRIED

DARNELL WAS VERY ACTIVE

A PARENT’S RESPONSIBILITY

PHOTO SECTION

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

RESOURCES

AUTHOR’S NOTES

WHEN I WAS A CHILD, I knew what sex was because of fireside training by my parents and had seen alcohol in my home, but I didn’t know much about it. I didn’t know anything about drugs and substance abuse.

There was not much to do in my small town but play kick ball, get on our knees and play jacks as children and crap (shooting marbles for pennies) as grown men.

Also, it seemed that the young men and boys thought that it was alright to fondle young girls and teenagers just as a sport, because a lot of that was going on. This, of course, led to illicit sex and rape if the boy or man could find a hiding place to take the girl.

There were many of our houses that set on bricks, and under the houses were some of the favorite places children and teens liked to play hide-and-seek and have sex. We lived near a wooded area and this was the second-best place to have sex, smoke cigarettes and get high on weed.

My story goes like this:

When I was thirteen and my oldest brother was sixteen, my mother sent George and me into the woods near our house several days before Christmas to cut down a Christmas tree and break some holly to make Christmas wreaths to sell to neighbors and stores for people’s Christmas decorations and doors.

Designing and selling wreaths is how we made our little money for Christmas. George and I were young teens and enjoyed running arrands and doing chores for our parents and our neighbors. It had been snowing every evening and night in Sussex County, Delaware and it had snowed hard the night before. We had on heavy coats and goloshes.

BULLIES WERE FRIENDS

When we entered the woods, some big neighborhood teenagers that we knew (but I was not allowed to play with) entered the woods behind us. Their names were Earl and Johnnie, the two oldest boys in their family of ten children. They began messing with me and gave George a pack of cigarettes and matches to keep him quiet. George wasn’t buying that and shooed them off.

Some victims of bullying and sexual abuse may experience that their friends are not nice. This issue may say more about the bully than it does the victim. Maybe the bully doesn’t feel good about himself and acts out with other people. Bullies are people who need to feel powerful. Hurting someone else makes them feel in control.

BULLIES EVERY WHERE

"I recently read a narrative by Symone D. Sanders in her book, NO, YOU SHUT UP. She was describing an incident on TV that had to do with white supremacy and a white man, Ken Cuccinelli who was being interviewed beside Symone.

They got into a heated play on words. Cuccinelli told Symone to shut up and listen to him. Symone, a young black woman was stating that a killing in Charlottesville, Virginia was the result of a gruesome manifestation of white supremacy, a problem that has grown more virulent and violent since the last administration (Trump presidency). Cuccinelli apparently feeling powerful over Symone Sanders, asked her to shut up because she didn’t know what she was talking about."

Symone told Cuccinelli, No, you shut up! (p.2).

I know that this is an overplay and extreme point to my childhood story, by we have been bullied and slenderized about every thing from sex to political disagreements. Some persons feel they have all the power, and even on television attempt to belittle and bully lesser and marginalized people.

Suffice it to say, the powerful person feels that the victim does not have the right to defend himself.

We as black people have been having this conversation all our lives with our own people and with other powerful people.

Symone stated, It doesn’t matter what Cuccinelli looks like, how old he is or how powerful, we all know that isn’t an acceptable way to speak to anyone.

She defended herself. I told him so on national television: Under no circumstances do you get to speak to me in that manner." (p. 3).

Well, just like I had to claim, reclaim and assert my power on CNN that day, in the iconic spirit of Maxine Waters, (one of Symone’s heroes), the time has come for all of us to band together and speak up, not just this moment but for the future. (p. 4-5, para).

BACK TO MY STORY ABOUT THE TWO BOYS HARRASSING ME AND SUBSEQUENTLY GEORGE. George was very protective with me and Mother would allow me to go anywhere with him.

He told these teenage boys he would tell their parents if they didn’t leave us alone.

The two teen age boys, seventeen and eighteen years old, left because George hit the one who was touching me.

They both had quit high school and were sent to live with their grandmother. They were always fighting their own younger brothers and sisters and their parents could no longer tolerate their bad behavior.

In fact, they were just bullies, fighting and cussing their own brothers and sisters and other children in the community. Our small town was aware that these two boys and others were bullying other children, committing sexual abuse and insisting on younger children and youth use drugs and alcohol. Boys tend to act out their bullying as they view what masculine culture is all about.

These boys had been to juvenile court for the many fights they had in their own home and out on the streets. It was suggested that Earl was seen flashing a gun at school and was put out for a period of time. Their mother felt that they were too dangerous to be around her younger children.

Barry C. Feld, in BAD KIDS: RACE AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE JUVENILE COURT, states Judicial opinions and statutory changes have rejected procedural informality and incorporated imperfectly many of the safeguards of criminal courts. These substantive and procedural reforms have converted the historical ideal of the juvenile court as a welfare agency into a quasi-penal system that provides young offenders with neither therapy nor justice, especially in the black communities. Even proponents reluctantly acknowledge that juvenile courts often fail either to save children or to reduce youth crime.

By the 1950’s to the 1970’s in this country, macrostructural changes within the past two decades resulted in the deindustrialization of the urban cores in which most African Americans live, eroded the employment opportunities for lower skilled and less well educated young black males and fostered the emergence of a structural underclass." (pp. 8-15, para).

CRACK COCAINE EPIDEMIC

A little later the crack cocaine epidemic exacerbated the historical relationships among urbanism, poverty, race and youth crime. In inner-city areas and rural areas of intense racial segregation, concentrated poverty, industrial decline, and weakened family and community social control, young black men entered the violent drug economy and youth homicide rates soared." (p. 5).

George knew these two youth well, as even though younger, he had played with them. The news was getting around our town that they were selling and using drugs brought in from the northern cities, like Philadelphia and Chester, Pennsylvania.

George taught me right then, to hit a boy if he touched me or tried to push me down. He told me to hit him under the chin or on the forehead. That would hurt bad. I learned another lesson that day. Whether I did the bullying or whether someone else bullied me, I would get into trouble.

These boys used to go to church with us until they got bigger. Sometimes, they would come to our house early on Sunday and wait until Daddy opened the church. Daddy was the Sunday School Superintendent and unlocked the door to the church for the children and the Sunday School teachers.

Later, they wouldn’t go to church at all. It is said that hunger is a sense of inner emptiness. Maybe they felt hungry for love. But it was part of their own making. They wouldn’t listen to their parents or other adults. Instead, they would rather listen to their new gang, drink, smoke and rape teenage girls and children.

Hunger or emptiness can weaken our discernment as we make decisions. It convinces us that it is okay to settle for anything that fills us up even if it causes us harm or hurts someone else.

Our God wants us to live a full live and not be at the mercy of our appetites. He wants us to be filled with His love so that everything we do flows from peace and stability that He provides.

I realized later that these two teenage boys were harming others because of their own unfulfilled needs and insecurities. They didn’t have many friends, boys or girls. They had low self-esteems. It is evident that Earl and Johnnie were experiencing pain, but much of it was self-inflected.

A TEST OF FAITH

Charles Clevenger in Salesian Inspirational Books wrote this poem:

A TEST OF FAITH.

Sometimes God examines our faith, though He knows our every whim.

And though we may be unworthy, our faults and failures we entrust to Him.

When black clouds of gloom surround me, and follow where ever I go, it is then I look toward heaven, where God hears my prayers—I know.

Perhaps God sends us tribulations to test our faith, we profess.

To endure the trials and travails of life, we must be steadfast in the faith we confess.

The months of Winter can be long and cold, when clouds of gray hang on for days.

Remember, though to count your blessings, keep the faith—and give God the praise.

Life’s highs and lows can be testing, to keep the faith, we must be strong.

The Almighty, in His goodness, will see us through.

We are all his children—to Him we belong. (para).

It is stated by Jane Fonda, in her book, BEING A TEEN, that friendships between teenagers change."

ADOLESCENCE RELATIONSHIPS

During adolescence, it is expected that friendships will change. Sometimes a relationship becomes stronger when two people have confronted each other with whatever the problem is and work through it.

George and these two teenagers use to be very close friends when they were little children-playing in each other’s back yard. But they experienced changes, Earl and Johnnie quit school and became street-wise. They began drinking and smoking. They did odd jobs and bought an old car which ran awhile and stopped awhile.

George had just bought a car, also. He was able to keep a job working in the woods, cutting pulp wood and helping to drive it to Washington, D. C.

These boys would ask George for a ride sometimes when their car was on the brink. George took them where they wanted to go, but Daddy and Mother didn’t want George fraternizing with them. I was forbidden to go near them.

Some of our neighbors said they were finding dope (homemade drugs and store-bought drugs.) They were no longer our schoolmates or neighbors. They had moved on the outskirts of town with their grandmother. They had drifted away from us. So, our family had new friends to play with because these boys were hanging out with a gang and older migrant teenagers.

Their interest had changed. They began having illicit sex with some of the migrant workers and were seemingly much older than we were. They were picking fights with their siblings and younger neighbors and they had started engaging in high-risk behavior. (Fonda, pp. 192-193.)

Even though George shooed them away that day, he still had the cigarettes and matches in his pocket. Earl and Johnnie still got the best of us. I learned something else important that day. I realized how dangerous it can be to feel comfortable with your friends until they turn on you. Instead of being watchful, we had gone on autopilot and got complacent with our situation.

Our parents did not know all of the things that were going on with our teenage friends. When we were younger, it was our families who played the biggest role in shaping our identity. We ate meals during holidays with Earl and Johnnie’s family. Our parents were close.

Now as teens it was our peers who influenced how we made decisions and defined ourselves. Friends became a central part of our lives. We were away at school about seven or eight hours a day and our parents became less influential to us. The friends we chose then would help us become the person we wanted to be if they shared our values or they could have done the opposite and led us down the wrong path.

George kept the cigarettes and put one in my mouth and one in his mouth like they did in the movies. He apparently thought that would warm us up or was cool. We stood there and puffed on every one of those cigarettes because we didn’t know what else to do with them. (Yes, Dummies—not street-smart at all!)

Thankfully no one was really hurt that day but I felt really sick. We had gotten complacent and comfortable because we had overcome the bullies. But we had stopped being vigilance.

Peter warns us not to glide thoughtlessly through life, but be alert. (1 Peter 5:8, NIV).

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering. (vv. 8-9, NIV).

That day, George and I learned that by his power, we became more discerning, watchful and alert in resisting evil.

That day I learned many lessons, one being situational awareness-pay attention to where you are, who is around you and what’s going on. We live in a day when the world, at home and abroad, is not a safe place. We don’t always practice an awareness of surroundings or who is near us, especially now with cellphones and ear plugs.

That day, we cut down a tree for Mother and broke a grass-sack bag full of holly for Mother’s wreaths. It was getting dark so we hurried home.

We came out of the woods cold and hungry about a half hour to forty-five minutes later. I was sick by the time we got to the back door of our house.

George brought the big tree into the house and carried it straight to the living room. Apparently, Mother did not smell the cigarette smoke in his clothes and on his breath because of the tree.

I stumbled in behind him with the bag of holly. When George took the tree in the living room and started setting it up on the tree stand, Mother was pleased as punch. So apparently, she didn’t get his cigarette drift. It went unnoticed.

But she came after me. Fonda said, You may not always agree with your parents, but we should try to understand that they are doing the best they can. Parents tend to worry and we felt that they worried too much about us. (p.192).

Part of what’s confusing about puberty and adolescence is that one minute you think that parents don’t understand and should leave you alone and the next minute you want them to put their arms around you and hold you. With teenagers, it is not always easy to talk to our parents-especially about personal things, such as sex and dating, drugs and alcohol. (p. 193).

Mother was old fashioned and I knew it was not easy for her to talk about sex, drugs and alcohol. But she smelled the cigarette smoke on my breath as I passed by her and she heard me wheezing. She acted quickly and told me to go upstairs to bed. I climbed the stair steps slowly and got sicker and sicker.

Mother got the point. Instead of doing a lot of talking she went into action. She didn’t just drop hints; we had a productive dialogue. She had the right answer and she spelled it out.

Mother came upstairs after dark and gave me a cup of sassafras tea without sugar. Usually, she put sugar or honey in the tea to help with the bitter taste when we were sick. This time there was no sugar or honey.

She waited by my side until I gulped and guzzled every bit of that sassafras tea down. It was so bitter. I was gaging and she was standing there daring me not to drink the bitter cup. I vowed to never smoke another cigarette or drink another cup of sassafras tea again. AND I HAVEN’T!

I really paid for that episode. George and I never told our parents what happened to us in the woods. But Mother was very discerning; she knew something had happened but she wanted to teach us a lesson because she felt that we were responsible enough to take care of ourselves and each other and she was responsible for both of us.

I have heard it said, "Life isn’t about waiting for the