“Blooming from Brokenness: One Woman’s Rise from Despair to Divine Purpose”

Deciding what my name is…excuse me, but shouldn’t I have the right to decide that? When I write you a letter or introduce myself with a so-called double-barrel surname, who gives you the right to decide what I should be called? Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence I have found. Sometimes when I want to prove a point when someone thinks they have the right to drop the McCurdy from my name and call me Mrs. Crooks, I totally ignore them – they are not calling me. If only some of the self appointed ‘name police’ would stop to think that there are persons whose surname from birth is two family names joined by a dash. I have a number of nieces and nephews who have double barrel surnames. I have a friend who routinely educates persons when called by the last of her surname that she is single and never married and therefore should be addressed by her double-barreled surname. Etiquette would dictate that you find out what someone would like to be called before dr...

OK, I know that everyone will have something to say about Rihanna and Chris Brown getting back together. I also figure based on comments around me that many people feel that she should never have gotten back with him. But everyone has to live their own lives and make their own mistakes. The funniest or maybe it's the saddest part is that the mob saying she's a fool are people I know have remained with abusive spouses. Apart from the fact that they are young and in love, if rumors on the Internet are true, she is also pregnant with his child. Being pregnant and alone is a scary prospect, and emotions are all over the place. I agree that children shouldn't be brought up in abusive homes. No one knows for sure if theirs is an abusive relationship, or if this was a first time occurrence. So the bigger question we need to ask is, was the beating the first or is it just the worst in a long line of incidents. One off physical, emotional or verbal abuse is bad, but can be overlooke...

Ever since Barack Obama decided to run for President of the United States there was one thing I noticed – the obvious adoration he has for his wife. I kept my observation to myself, but slowly I realized that many of my female associates and friends were beginning to notice. The morning after he won the November 4th election, the ladies in the car on my way to work couldn’t stop gushing about the love…they too had finally seen it. His statement, “And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years ... the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady ... Michelle Obama…” had them enthralled. WOW!!! To be so loved they said. They saw what I had noticed from the beginning. Whenever they were together, the way he looked at her said everything – in his eyes Michelle was all woman and the only woman he had eyes for. There’s no denying that Michelle Obama is a beautiful woman with lots of class, maybe not...