When the roles of teacher, mother, and author intersect, the stories that emerge are as multifaceted as the lives they mirror. Our latest conversation takes you through the heartwarming journey of a woman who wears these titles with grace and tenacity. As we celebrate her fifth year shaping minds in the classroom, she also opens up about the personal victories and struggles chronicled in her book, "Understanding My Assignment: My Life on Raising Champions, Redefining Me." Her insights extend beyond her manuscript, delving into the essence of motherhood and the art of nurturing not just academic excellence, but champions of life.
Navigating the complexities of life with children requires a balance that our guest has mastered, weaving lessons of leadership and service into the fabric of her family's daily routine. The conversation flows seamlessly from the importance of exposing children to diverse life experiences to the value of putting family first amidst a demanding career. As she shares the tender vulnerabilities of parenting, you'll be reminded of the strength that lies in guiding the next generation towards independence, all while remaining their steadfast compass.
The chapter on empty nest syndrome resonates with any parent bracing for the quiet after the storm of child-rearing. Our guest's transition to a home with more space than voices is discussed with a mix of melancholy and hope, spotlighting the opportunities that arise when children spread their wings. Touching on the thread of community engagement, from cheerleading to library visits, she emphasizes the lasting impact of parental involvement. As we wrap up the episode with a prayer of gratitude, you're invited to reflect on the lessons and blessings each person brings to our lives, just as our guest has enriched ours.
When the roles of teacher, mother, and author intersect, the stories that emerge are as multifaceted as the lives they mirror. Our latest conversation takes you through the heartwarming journey of a woman who wears these titles with grace and tenacity. As we celebrate her fifth year shaping minds in the classroom, she also opens up about the personal victories and struggles chronicled in her book, "Understanding My Assignment: My Life on Raising Champions, Redefining Me." Her insights extend beyond her manuscript, delving into the essence of motherhood and the art of nurturing not just academic excellence, but champions of life.
Navigating the complexities of life with children requires a balance that our guest has mastered, weaving lessons of leadership and service into the fabric of her family's daily routine. The conversation flows seamlessly from the importance of exposing children to diverse life experiences to the value of putting family first amidst a demanding career. As she shares the tender vulnerabilities of parenting, you'll be reminded of the strength that lies in guiding the next generation towards independence, all while remaining their steadfast compass.
The chapter on empty nest syndrome resonates with any parent bracing for the quiet after the storm of child-rearing. Our guest's transition to a home with more space than voices is discussed with a mix of melancholy and hope, spotlighting the opportunities that arise when children spread their wings. Touching on the thread of community engagement, from cheerleading to library visits, she emphasizes the lasting impact of parental involvement. As we wrap up the episode with a prayer of gratitude, you're invited to reflect on the lessons and blessings each person brings to our lives, just as our guest has enriched ours.
I'm going to go ahead and welcome you to Gentry's journey, but we'll do this scripture Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. Philippians 4 and 4 Ma'am how was your day, hey man? How was your day, girl? I'm going to go ahead and welcome you to Gentry's journey and I'm going to go ahead. Hey man, how was your day, girl?
Speaker 2:It was good first of all thank you for having me on, but yeah, it was really good. These last couple days have been. You know, I've just kind of given the kids a little time to catch up on some stuff and they've been working real good. You know, study groups, things like that so it's been really good. It's been really good. How long have you been teaching? This is my fifth year.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's great. So you've been teaching in particular age group.
Speaker 2:I like high schoolers, so I'm actually with the same group of kids for the next well, for four years. So I had them as freshmen last year, I have them as sophomores and then I'll continue with them for the you know, the last two years of high school. So I'm really excited to be able to have them for for four years.
Speaker 1:That way you really really get to know them.
Speaker 2:Yes, I do, I do so.
Speaker 1:I was just a little bit about yourself and what inspired you to become a writer.
Speaker 2:So I've always. Well, first and foremost, I am a mom of four. I have three sons and you know one daughter, she's the only one left at home. My sons are all grown, one in college and then the two are start really grown, grown, doing their thing, and I've always been a talker. My grandfather was married for 12 years. I'm divorced. I love working with, with youth, I love just being able to have conversations with people, so I've always been a talker. My grandfather was a minister and so I've always just been out and about around people. And you know, I grew up in a single parent home with my mom.
Speaker 2:Okay, what really inspired me to write was that I think it really was my mother. Okay, she is an avid reader. Like my mom will be reading like three books at a time, and it just first. Okay, let me back up. So one day I was talking to somebody at the school. I was talking to a teacher and I was like I was just telling her some things about my life and my children and she was like you should write a book. And so I was like huh, and so I literally just started writing, just typing in my iPhone, you know, and, as I like continued on the journey of writing the book that I wrote, I really started thinking about just, you know, I can't wait for my mom to read and I really didn't want to tell her.
Speaker 2:I just want to her to like go to the mail one day and open up a book and open up a package and it'd be my book. That was how I wanted her to find out, but because my mother is such an avid reader and I needed her advice like, what color pages do you like white, do you like cream? You know, let's talk about font and things like that so I ended up telling her, yeah, I'm writing a book and you know, it just like a way to another way to connect, like another level to connect with her online. So I loved it.
Speaker 1:That's great. Now, was this your first book? Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2:Okay, and give us that title please. The book is understanding my assignment. Okay, my life or my journey on raising champions, redefining me and like just my journey on life.
Speaker 1:When I saw that the other day and I have purchased it. Okay, it's in my library. Oh, you're more than welcome. I purchased it a while back and raising champions caught me off guard. Tell us how you go about raising champions. How did you do that?
Speaker 2:And how are you doing it?
Speaker 1:because you still have one at home, yes, yes, and I think she's the most difficult one. It's always going to be one now it's always going to be one.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, and she's the only girl. So, to be fair, like yeah, really, raising champions came from you know, I do have one child who was born in the United States and he was born in the United States and he's a D one athlete. He is on scholarship and plays big ten football, but he's not the only champion that I have, you know. And it's not just about winning, and I really wanted to convey that message. Like being a champion is not just about winning, it's about other things that they need to win in life, not just on a field or on a basketball court or something like that. Like it's so much bigger than that, and so in the book I talk about.
Speaker 2:You know the different things that I've instilled in them and just you know some of it's just happenstance, like you know. When I talk about volunteering and leadership, you know real world champions lead and they serve. So I just need I wanted people to have a better understanding of it's. Not just about being in a sports setting.
Speaker 1:I agree with you, because that's not life, it's a part of life. But to be a champion, you need to know how to win, how to lose, how to navigate, how to pivot. So it's more than one thing. And so I get that, and that really sums it up to me, because you're raising them for life. You know. You're raising them so that they can really navigate life. Yeah, that's great. I like that.
Speaker 2:Thank you, and I think also you know I'm raising them to leave me. You know, if I do my job right, then they're supposed to grow up and they're supposed to go out and do things and you know, experience life and travel and take risk and things like that. So I was raising them to be more than just, I guess, the status quo. You know I didn't want them to just be raised to just grow up and think you know you're working your industry, factory, hospital, whatever it is for 30 years and then that's it, there's nothing more.
Speaker 2:No, go travel, go see the world.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Those kinds of things too.
Speaker 1:I agree with you. I did something similar. I wasn't thinking about champions, I was thinking about way around individuals when I was raising my children. And you know and not that we're avid travelers but to be able to travel, to see different cities, to discover different states and different activities out here, you need to, sometimes you have to get outside your environment for one thing. You can't just stay in this one place and do that. And they have come to me and said thank you for giving us the opportunity to do some travel. Not that we're world travelers, but we get out. We have done those things. And because learning occurs, in my humble opinion, more than just in the classroom, yes, absolutely yeah absolutely so.
Speaker 1:I definitely understand that. Yeah, so that was my philosophy as well and it still remains my philosophy. So the idea of your book, raising the champions and facing the process and trusting the process and the purpose, the purpose of me doing this, this is why I'm doing all that I do, because, being a parent, single parent or none, still being a parent you need to be ever present in your children's lives and activities, and that, in and of itself, is a job.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes it absolutely is, and I learned that the lesson. How I learned that lesson was I was going to school full time, I was working part time and I was actually. I worked at K Jewelers and I worked at K Jewelers. I went in just to work part time during the holiday and ended up working at that company for five years. There was an assistant manager position that came open and I wanted to apply for it and they wouldn't consider me or give me an interview. And in that moment, it was in that moment when I realized I will never give more to a company than I will give to my own children and my own family.
Speaker 1:Oh, ok, so and because life is about balance. Yes, so I get that. I definitely get that. Yes, you're not going to pour so much of yourself into one arena and other things will go missing or go lacking, so that is definitely understandable. So, as you were writing even though it is truly your story did you have moments where you were like, oh, should I put this in here? Or did you have moments of writer's block? Or did you just go in Full circumstance? I'm writing, I'm putting it all out here, I'm laying it all out on the ground.
Speaker 2:So it took me about three I think it was like two to three years to really write the book, because I kind of wrote it as life was happening.
Speaker 2:So, if something would happen. I was like I really need to write this down type of thing. There were things that I did not want to put in the book and I kind of went back and said, should I put this in? But ultimately I felt that I needed to put it in because it was very important.
Speaker 2:There's a part of the book where I talk about almost having an emotional breakdown. There's a part when I talk about my daughter seeing the vulnerability and understanding that I am human, and I think that it's important because a lot of times we just want to portray the strength and we've got it handled, and our kids are always like mom's got it, like mom will figure it out, mom will do it. But there were days when I was just like I don't know what to do and in those moments you have to kind of trust the process that you're going through. So, yeah, there were a lot of things and I didn't want to give so much in this book that I was like I always say the next book will be the total, everything. It'll be like my upbringing, it will be child rearing, it will be my marriage, my divorce and so forth and so on, and I feel like that will be like the book for me.
Speaker 1:That'd be your 360 degree. That'd be you all the time it will yeah.
Speaker 2:And I think it's just because I haven't lived like in my opinion, I haven't lived long enough, I guess, to really be like okay, you know, now I'm in this part, what next? Because I haven't experienced what's next being an empty nester.
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 2:You know, I'm kind of in the in between now where I just have, you know, I have my daughter. She's a freshman and I only have three years left to really pour into her before you know she goes off to college or goes off to school, you know, goes off to the military or whatever it is that she decides to do. So I want to make sure, you know.
Speaker 2:I know there will be other women that go through like, okay, what do I do now with myself? You know, and I want to be able to inspire and help them with that answer. So I just feel like it's just not time yet and I agree with you.
Speaker 1:You have an experience being an empty nester and I am here to tell you that is an adjustment. It was for me. My children are several years apart, so it is, it is real. It's that one voice or one set of footprints, footsteps that are not in the house, and you're looking around and like, well, where is everybody? Where did they go? And one of my phrases that I always tell parents enjoy them while they're young. Believe it or not, they're not going to always be babies and they grow up really quickly. That eight years gets out so fast.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, and that is a season in your life becoming an empty nester. It's truly a season and it can be kind of rocky, it can be kind of long-sum and whether you have a life partner or not, it's still that part of you that is missing. And that's when I reconnected, when my son went off to college. That's when I reconnected with former friends and not former friends but friends from my past, where we all work together and we started having dinner together once a month. So that really kind of helped me and just kind of opening up and just not just being here watching television at the end of my work day. I had to deal with something a little bit more productive. So we look forward to that and we kind of compare stories and we reminisce about past work history when we have worked together in the past. I'm just trying to give you those little hints you might want to start with your little group.
Speaker 2:So it's so funny because I live down here in Texas and where I'm at in Texas I don't have any family or anything like that.
Speaker 2:So I often think about kind of moving up towards the Dallas area, because I do have some cousins and I have my mom's baby sister, my aunt is up there, but it's like you said, my kids were all four to five years apart, so it was always so far away from me to think about being an empty nester. And I think when my son my youngest son went to college, it all really dawned on me. I kind of talk about that like what am I gonna do now? What am I gonna do with myself? And just coming home on the plane, having clarity of like it's gonna be okay, I was so super excited to be just me and my daughter and I'm like we'll have girls days and we'll go get our nails done and we'll do this and we'll do that, and she's just like, oh, my God, it's just me and mom. Like she's like, yeah, and I'm like like two totally different perspectives of just the two of us.
Speaker 2:So it was just kind of funny that that happened. And even now, you know, just they do grow up fast and I'm trying to figure out like, okay, what do I do now? Do I? Do I stay? Do I Move closer to family? Do I, you know, and it's. It's just, you know, I just joined it. Well, I joined a church a year ago, so I'm just really starting to get into working in my church and things like this. I'm happy about those kinds of things too.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and there are things you'd still need to stay connected with, even when your children are in your life and when they're maturing, but the bulk of it is being apparent I mean, that's 95% of it is being apparent, and you appear to be a hands-on parent, so your life has been just been pouring into them and I get it. I would be in the back of them and boosters meeting. Just I was called out in the chair not really paying attention, and I'd be like just let me know how much the chick needs to be. Let me feel it because you're doing so much? Because, yeah, I also shaperone the.
Speaker 1:My daughter was a cheerleader. She was in the band and then she went to cheerleague, but I was still a chaperone and I would do the away games and we had a great group of parents that did that. So, but they love football, me, I could care less. I'm alone for the ride. So by me being the nurse when you be first, aid us, I'm on it. I got you, you know right, that fills you up as well. So, yeah, she graduated. It was just different.
Speaker 2:You're fine, did you find yourself? Because I'm kind of now, at that point when my daughter talks about, oh, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that, like Okay, like slow down a little bit, I was like I kind of like this little page, like I like you never to go home and you know, being the house before dark, or Because you know, yesterday it was so Pictorial from practice took her to get her hair braided, went to Bible study. You know God, get her in between I'm eating in the car and why she's getting her hair braided and I'm like, okay, we get home and it was like, all right, good night.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, you do it. It seems like you're on a spinning wheel and you're trying to balance, not falling off, because there is a lot to do. And with girls you know, it's the dances, it's the pageants, is see, my daughter took tap and ballet for a very long time and when she got, I think maybe like in the 10th grade she said it's not really benefiting me anymore. That's the honey, this is your call.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know what a relief that was off me, you know, because we've been doing it since she was like five and I enjoyed it, you know. But that's a lot of work when they're in those type of activities, you know, and you know being in the band and you have to have them at practice at these ungodly hours and they're gone all day and you know I I'd rather wait on them than have them wait on me. So, yes, absolutely Got a little bit earlier, you know, and sometimes I wouldn't leave until every other child was picked up. But yeah, because I just didn't have the heart to drive. You know, I'm like sweetie, you can come sit in the car with us and tell your parents we're good. Then you know I'm good, I'm like you may be, but I'm nervous, right. So I would just park and I said, well, I'll just wait here in the car until your, your parents, get there. And I didn't mind, I just could not have driven home and left them at the university school, that way you know.
Speaker 2:So I'm giving a lot of rides home, yeah, um, especially, you know, to my son's friend, because there's always that fear of this is a young black man and it's something where to happen. I would feel so guilty because oh absolutely. You know, and and I might. But I mean like really you know what did come off. But yeah, just knowing that you know, at least they're safe, we don't have to worry about something happening, or you know that kind of thing Absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 1:I could not have driven off and left her there, and so I mean I don't have, I'm waiting, I'm waiting anyway. Um. So what's an extra five or ten minutes because you don't know if the parents got stopped out trying, woke up late because we know the struggle Of being that type of parent, being that active parent?
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, you don't just mother your children, you mother everyone else's children as well. Absolutely yeah. So you know it's fun and it's okay, but you are Breathless Day. You're ready. There was no problem sleeping, that's for sure. Um, you know when, when, the, when the day was over. Um, yeah, raising kids is a journey. Um, you know. And there is no rule book, there's no handbook on how to get this done, because every child has their uniqueness about them. Absolutely absolutely. Now, what message or theme do you hope readers can take away from your book?
Speaker 2:Um, I really hope that they take away that one is relatable. That's the biggest thing for me is I just want everybody to be like, oh, she gets it and, um, I get it. Relatable, this that everybody goes through things. Everybody, you know, has situations and you know, my, my biggest, my biggest thing is I don't go through anything, but you just for me. You know, whatever I go through, it's for somebody else, it's to help somebody else. And, um, if, if my experience coming out of it, and you look at me and be like, oh well, she survived this, this and this, and you know Her boys are, are grown and they're good and they, you know, are doing what they're supposed to do, then I can raise mine to do the same thing.
Speaker 2:You know, it does take sacrifice, it does take. You know, there's a lot of days when I'm like, but I want to go do this, or I want to go do that, but I can't. You know, um, and you know, even, even today, as soon as I get done here, I'm gonna have to go Sit at a track meet until probably nine, ten o'clock tonight. Um, um, because that's just what we do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a part of your routine, that is, and you do grow into your routine. Um, you know, like I said, I'm not really a fan of sport. Um, I know it, but I'm more of a people watcher. So I would be in the stands. They were like, did you see that play? And I was like, uh-uh, because I, my, I was on whoever was walking or talking, and so I decided to start volunteering in the concession stand because it kept me more focused.
Speaker 1:And Parents were running from the concession stand. I'm running to it because you know you're still a mother in there because the kids oh, hurry up, I just want a hamburger. I said, look, this is not Burger King, you're not having to get you away. This is the way we're gonna do it and we're gonna say, please, and thank you and be appreciative that we're absolutely you know. So it's still, uh, opportunities to teach your children, you know, at that point in time, and teach other people. You know I'd be like, oh, that's karmie's mom, I guess. Okay, I guess she, she's a little maddie. Yeah, call me maddie if you want to. But you know, but you know you're gonna be appreciative of this learning Uh opportunity you know there's no children.
Speaker 2:You know there's, that's right.
Speaker 1:And you don't take the heart, because none of them were outright rude, because they know you, they know and if they don't know you, they know your face, okay yeah, or they know your children, so they know what limits they can take. Now I know you said your mom is an avid reader and she reads about three books at a time, and which is phenomenal. So do you have any particular authors that you yourself like?
Speaker 2:Um, so I really enjoyed. Like I started reading the Percy Jackson series with my kids when they were like in junior high and elementary we did. I did like a summer reading thing and I was like, all right, guys, we're all going to read this book together and I've always loved Greek mythology. So when I started reading the books, what happened was I passed them in the book and then the kids were like I don't want to read no more.
Speaker 2:Because mom reads faster than us. And then when I was working in the schools I've been working in schools for 20 years and it was a way for me to connect with the kids. You know, I would see that I would go in as a sub and I'd be like, oh, you're reading. You know yearls of a lipid or whatever. And so I love Rick Rillard and I've read all. You know. Like all of those books, I love Zora Neale Hurston.
Speaker 1:In college I read a lot of her.
Speaker 2:I had a book that had, like you know, it was like a bunch of her stories in it and I really love reading that and then reciting some of her passages or things out of the book for my classes. I like to read. I got a whole bunch of books over here. I just like you know, if it's interesting to me, I just pick it up and start reading, and I'm really the guy with Hain, so that's probably not the greatest thing, but yeah.
Speaker 2:I just, I just I love Zora Neale Hurston though I do, I do, I'm a big fan of hers.
Speaker 1:So am I. So am I. I was in DC a few years ago and we went into that African-American museum and then the one thing that was a picture of her. So I told the person I was like, get a picture of me next to my favorite author now. Come on let's do this.
Speaker 2:I get it.
Speaker 1:I definitely get it. You know reading is fundamental and it does take you places you probably haven't been or have been and you learn more about that individual and their writing style. So yeah, you know it is definitely beneficial.
Speaker 2:Well, and I was always in the library growing up. I would my junior, high and seventh grade. My seventh grade school was like kind of catty corner and across the street from the library. So a lot of times when I got out of school I would go to the library and wait for my mom to pick me up and I became like really close with the ladies there and I would I would end up, you know, doing volunteer, volunteering, doing things for for a project that they had going on and just, it was just a very good environment.
Speaker 2:It was, you know, quiet, it was calm and I was safe. You know I was safe. I didn't have to go home, you know. I didn't have to, like, ride the bus home and be by myself. I could be there and be with someone. Then my mom worked down the street, around the corner type of thing, so she picked me up on her way home. So I just always was in the library. I love the smell of books, I love, I love, when I'm reading a book to go to the last page and I always read the last like paragraph, or the last line.
Speaker 2:I mean I go back and read the beginning of the book. Yes, I hate when a book ends, especially a good book. When it ends I'm like I don't want this to end, but I do. I like the feel of the pages. I've never got into e-readers and things like that because I just I'm a book person. I want to feel the pages. I want to, you know, just hold the book and all those kinds of things too.
Speaker 1:Definitely. I have so many bookmarks around my house and sometimes when I go different places I'll get a couple of more bookmarks or something like that. And it was hard for me to do my first e-book. It was very, very hard because I think we all are accustomed to holding a book, smelling the book, filling the pages and things of that nature. I did get through the e-book and my first audible book or audio book, I was like, ooh, this has me kind of spoiled, you know but my mom will.
Speaker 2:She loves those too.
Speaker 1:She has one on in the car all the time all the time and they are good, but I still like a physical book. So I haven't made the total transformation and that's okay. You know, I guess I'm on the cusp of the new technology.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:I'm on the cusp. So, dorian, in closing, is there anything else you want to let the audience know about you? Maybe next projects other than your second or third book that will probably be coming out? Are you working on anything now?
Speaker 2:I'm not really working on anything. I always said that my next book was going to be more mother-daughter focused, because I feel like now that I'm a mother of a daughter, I kind of I see something through my mother's lens is a little clearer. It makes me think back on well, when I thought I wasn't that bad or whatever. It's given me a new perspective. And then, of course, raising daughters in this day and age is a lot different than when I grew up. It's a lot harder.
Speaker 1:I think I could agree. Even though my daughter is an adult, my biggest focus was you will not be at every party every Friday night after the game. That is not going to happen Now. You can go to every other or every third, but you will not be the face of the party. The challenges that I see out here now, or what I proceed to be a potential challenge, is the fashions, the hairstyles, the hair colors. I just don't know how I would adjust. I just don't know. I just don't know Right.
Speaker 2:And it's hard because I'm very different. It's so funny because my mother and my daughter I guess the more I'm learning about my daughter, the more I'm learning about my mother as well and she's always kind of like, oh yeah, just let her dye her hair. And I'm like, no, ma'am, she is well, she just turned 15, but I'm like, no, I just don't. I didn't dye my hair for the first time until I was in my 30s and it was nothing out of landish or out of the ordinary or anything. That was just. I just want to cover the ground, but I'm also a big. I'm not your friend, I'm your mother.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 2:That has to be a step, and I don't really care about what anyone says. At the end of the day, I have to answer to God, and that's what I keep my focus on is that I have to answer to a higher power about you, and not only that. He gave you to me, so he trusted me enough to know that I'm going to do right by you. And I think one of the hardest things is when you are supposed to be co-parenting and your views are very. She's a daddy's girl, sure, so she'd call her dad and she'd get you wherever you want, but I'm not your dad.
Speaker 1:I'm your mom yeah.
Speaker 2:So, as much as I love you, I have to set boundaries. I have to make everything very clear, like as a parent, I don't have to give you everything that you want.
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 2:And I think that's hard. The social media is hard. Girl saying things and I'm like girl, I'm like don't even worry about that and just trying to keep her focused on her future. And the bigger picture is really challenging at times. I'm sure I was thinking about it this morning. How really the blueprint? Because she wants to go to school and run in college. That's what she wants to do.
Speaker 2:She's like I didn't want to go to Kentucky. Or she's like you got gold. She's an amazing student. She's in the nursing track, so every Wednesday she has to wear her scrubs to her nursing class and I look at her and I'll just be like man, I see my doctor, that's going to be the one. You know what I'm saying. She's got so much in her and she's just a beautiful young lady.
Speaker 2:But I'm like you got to stay focused and don't let things bother you and don't let people get in your head. So that's really hard for me, because I was always kind of like eh, I didn't care what people thought about what I wore, I just want to be comfortable. I want to go to school, do what I do and I'm out Like you know, that was my thing. But she's like you know, even today she calls me mom. Like why am I wearing under armor? And the rest of the team is wearing Nike? And I'm like, girl, you're a freshman, y'all always think about them in a bare-knit. And I'm like you go to run Like you're not there for a fashion show, like it's not a fashion show.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So, I'm going to focus on right now, like I don't know what I'm saying, and she's just one of those things that's like girl, just go run. You want to go run for a big school? You got to just go run, you ain't got to worry about none of that, just go run. You turn the uniform in at the end of the night anyway. You won't get something else next week. You're going to bring it home, like I always wash it. She got super sensitive. I'm going to wash it and we're going to keep it moving, like you know, and it's just, it's very sometimes it's exhausting.
Speaker 1:It is exhausting.
Speaker 2:It is exhausting. I want other people to know, don't you just? We're exhausted together.
Speaker 1:It's OK, yeah. We are all exhausted together, so and that we are and, like I say, each child is different, so it takes a different parenting style with each child. But one thing for sure you have to hold your, you got to stand your ground, basically, and you have to always say this will not matter in two years, this will not matter in six years. I like that, you know. And it's still hard for them to get that concept. But it won't matter, it really won't. I like that, you know so.
Speaker 1:I really like that I used to keep that in the forefront of my daughter and my son. Not so much of a fashion person give him t-shirts and jeans and he's fine, but still is the personalities of people he tries to die sick. I said let that go, Let them figure them out. You figure yourself out and it's OK, Absolutely. Yeah, I know you're absolutely Now. How can people reach you? And if you would then close us out in four hours, appreciate it?
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely. So. People can reach me via my website, ddoreanevanscom. You can reach me on any social media platform. Facebook I'm just Dorean Evans. I don't have no fancy name. If you look for Dorean, as you're going to find I don't have nothing. You know, I'm not that fancy or whatever. But yeah, on Facebook, on Instagram is Ddorean Evans, on Facebook is Dorean Evans and on TikTok it is the author DL Evans. So I'm just kind of getting into the TikTok realm.
Speaker 1:Maitreya.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's one of those things where I was like I really don't want to go down that rabbit hole. It's a rabbit hole, but yeah, you can reach out any of those ways and messenger or whatever and I'll be more than happy to reach back and I just think that we are. It's a village, it's really, it's a small world and we just got to be there to help each other out.
Speaker 1:Now, you are correct, it is a small world and we do need to be one another's resources, if you will or you know that cheerleader, you got this. Come on, girl, absolutely. Hey, this is the way I went, but I won't advise it. So I think you need to take this route. You know so, because we all learned something at some point in time where we can help someone else. We're not in this for just for ourselves. Now that is for Absolutely. You know God made us to be communal and to be in relationships. You know whether it's for season what? For a moment? For season? For a lifetime? You?
Speaker 1:know, because there are some people that I have adored as I grew up in nursing, that I have adored, and but for some reason we have become separated and I think about them from time to time, but guess what A season they were there for a season, and so we have to recognize that.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I always say a season, a reason, a lesson and a blessing, ok, cool. So you know that's usually. You know people come into your life for one of those four reasons. So even in the lesson, you know, I thank God because I'm like OK, lord, like I appreciate you giving me that opportunity to learn or to or sometimes you test it, because you know, let's see if we're going to stand on our word, let's see if we you know you know, there's some things that, and then it just builds your own confidence up.
Speaker 2:Sometimes you have to, you have to.
Speaker 1:And sometimes you just have to stand alone, even as sometimes you have to stand alone.
Speaker 1:I know that you're doing what you're supposed to do. Sometimes you just got to walk that path by yourself, you know, and when you get to a certain point, then God brings other people into your life to help you finish it out one way or another. Yes, so that's great. So, dorian, I have enjoyed having you. I have enjoyed speaking with you, learning about you, the Dorian Evans, I honestly love that. I really do so. If your closest out in prayer, we will chat again.
Speaker 2:Yes, ma'am, father, god, Lord, we just thank you for this opportunity just to be with one another and just to have a conversation. God, we give you all the glory, we give you all the praise and we just with so much gratitude and thankfulness in our hearts. God, we just thank you. Lord, I just ask that you continue to watch over and bless my friend here, miss Carolyn. Just keep her and continue to prosper her and let her message and her journey be a blessing to others, as she has been a blessing to me. Lord, I thank you, I give you all the glory and you have all the power. Jesus' name, we pray, amen.
Speaker 1:Amen amen.