December 2, 2017 LIFE AIN'T FAIR

I'm troubled. LIFE IS  JUST SO UNFAIR.  So much of who we are and where we end up is determined BEFORE we are even born. It's the LUCK of the draw. If you're UNLUCKY enough to be born into poverty, to a drug addicted mother or just a mother who doesn't give a damn--OH WELL--Them's the breaks. It's crazy.  Imagine  growing up in a world WHERE YOU CAN'T EVEN trust your mother to have your back--and your BIGGEST worry is when you will eat again. This is  the reality that  thousands of children face everyday.  I wish I had a magic wand. I'd wave my wand over the world and EVERY child would feel safe, secure and loved. Children would never be hungry and their biggest worry would be reciting their multiplication facts. BACK TO REALITY--As a society, we need to recognize that if we don't find a way to mend the family unit, all is lost. Education is important but without the support, guidance and love of family-- the cycle generally continues--unless you are  Patricia Williams.

I just finished reading her autobiography entitled Rabbit, where amazingly enough, she beat the odds after surviving in a world most of us could never imagine. I picked this book up at the library last week on a whim. The name of the book intrigued me and I loved the picture of Ms. Pat on the cover. I had NO idea who Ms. Pat was but have come to learn that she is actually a famous stand-up comedian, actress and writer who grew up in the "hood" in Atlanta, Georgia,  during the crack epidemic. Rabbit is a brutally honest account of her life.  She grew up in filth, surrounded by alcoholics and drug addicts. Ms. Pat's mother was an alcoholic who often beat her and her four siblings. Ms. Pat couldn't trust her mother at all as she often involved her kids in money making schemes and criminal activity to support her habits.  Pat and her siblings never knew where their next meal was coming from or where they would sleep each night. Ms. Pat was pregnant at thirteen and had two children by the time she was fifteen years old. She even became a crack dealer in order  to pay her rent and  keep her children fed and clothed. She seemed destined to repeat the cycle.  Her story is remarkable because she got out--changed her life and even went on to raise her sister's four children because she was a crack addict. Find out how Ms. Pat changed her life when you read this tragic, often funny story yourself. It's only about 240 pages or a 3 mile unforgettable run that everyone should read.