MOTHER Thank You,

BY JAMES RATLIFF

Part 2

As I grew older, somewhere around ten years of age, I learned that my father was abusive to my mother. I witnessed my two older brothers fighting with my father on several occasions. I saw my oldest brother try to kill my father with a knife. I felt my happiness fading from that point on in my life. My perspective changed and I was not happy anymore. I began to see my father differently. I did not like what I saw. My father and mother babied me. I felt special with them. My mother told me that the reason they treated me that way was because I almost died as a baby also that daddy falsely accused her of cheating on him. He got drunk and told her that I was not his child. He came back later that day and apologized to her and named me after his father. Those was the reasons they treated me a little different from the rest of my siblings. I did not mind at all.

As I watched my father grow increasingly hateful and violent, I vowed never to be like him. I would help women and not abuse them. I promised myself that I would be that person who would love others and do good to others.

I watched my mother cook, clean, and take care of us. She taught us values. She disciplined us and taught us how to read and write. She would always tell us to make something of ourselves. She was proud of us and loved us more than she loved herself. She gave us all she had, her selfless love and devotion. She was more than a remarkable woman; she was life to us. She lived for God and her children. She made sacrifices so that we could live better lives. Education was key to success for her. She had an eighth-grade education. She pushed us to learn and apply what we learned. She wanted us boys to stick together and not let anything or anyone come between us.

She would always say, “you all are brothers, do not fight or lose that relationship for anyone or any reason.” Mother was our rock, our strength, and our security. I believed in her and that will never fade. She was the last of a dying breed. She was a woman in all the true sense of the word. She is what God meant for her to be. She loved the Lord with all her heart, soul, and mind. She kept us in church. We would walk for miles to Sunday school and church. It would take us at least two hours to walk to church. She taught us to love even our enemies. Even our own father.

Although I did not know Grandmother Shambry, I know that mother got her strength from her. I learned that Grandmother Shambry was a strong woman. She was an industrious woman with sound moral character. She was born Shambry Martin. I do not know much about my fathers’ side of the family. I knew his mother. We called her big momma. She was mean and daddy was mean. Her name was Willie Mae Taylor.

I was somewhat of a sensitive child. I did not like to do what other people did. I was a loner. I would sit out on the woodpile or go off into the woods at my favorite spot and just think. I wanted to be someone in life. I knew that I would at least try to amount to something in life. I did not want to disappoint mother or myself. I just felt different. I was successful in music in high school. I was smart and made good grades, until I realized that there were creatures known as girls and that they were anatomically different. Then my grades suffered for a short while. I was able to get pass the brief distractions and pulled the grades back up. When I graduated high school, I even received an award for qualities of leadership. It was called the “I dare you” award. I was so proud. My mother was proud, also. Even my father was proud. I received a scholarship in music to college. I turned it down because I wanted to go to another college instead. I was also successful in college. I was a fast leaner. During my first year, I was exempt from taking finals in three classes. I had a high GPA. Later, I received an academic scholarship to study at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois.

I am like my mother in many ways. I heard her voice then and I still hear her voice telling us to make something out of ourselves. I heard that voice throughout my life. I listened the best I could. I went to college, I got good grades, I studied and got good jobs. I became a supervisor at age nineteen at Sears and Roebuck in Chicago. I joined the Marine Corps and became an Intelligence Analyst. I later joined the U.S. Navy and became a Hospital Corpsman. I got my license as a Private Investigator and conducted undercover work in Beverly Hills, Ca. I later joined the Air National Guards and retired as a Security Specialist. I began a career with the Parole Department in Alabama and became a parole/probation officer. I also had jobs as Director of Security for two major hotels. I worked as Senior account manager and account manager for two major companies. My last job was as Director of Victim Services for a police department. I am nationally certified as a comprehensive victim intervention specialist. God also called me to preach His Gospel. I am an Apostle.