Personal Childhood Web

  There were so many amazing people that had a profound effect on my childhood. My family grew up in the time when the belief was that it took the whole village to raise the child. The first two people that I must start off with are my mom and dad, Josie and Ronald McNeil. My mom was ans she still is my rock. She is always there for me. When I was growing up I saw my parents sacrifice so much so that my siblings and I could have everything that we needed. We may not have gotten all I wants but we got what we needed. My mom made sure we heard the words that we are special everyday and that we could accomplish whatever we wanted to do in life. She attended our school events and volunteered at our school. My father made sure we had a place to live and provided us with things we needed. He is a minister and he was a pastor of his church when we were growing up. He made sure we had a strong spiritual foundation that has grown with me and is present in my adult life. His prayers has gotten me through childhood problems such as being picked on by my peers because I did not have some of the finer things but I had that love and affection that some of my peers did not. I had the house that all the kids wanted to come over. On Sunday morning all of my friends wanted to got to church with us. It was four of us and we took five friends with us to church. I am really thankful for my parents for the love and support and the nurturing that they gave us.
  The third person that I want to speak on is my grandmother Josephine Lawrence. She was the grandmother that everyone wanted to be around. She was a great cook and she sewed. She made quilts that kept us warm through the winter. She made sure that we knew the value of hard work. Everyone called her Sis. We went to visit her every Saturday. She had the food cooked and we enjoyed working with her in her garden and she loved to take us fishing. That was such a bonding experience for me. She passed away in 2014 at the age of 98. I loved her wisdom and knowledge that she gave me. I still have her quilt that keeps me warm through the winter and the doll she made for me at the age of five. That doll is 40 years old now. She gave me so much and I love her for that.
   The fourth person was my third grade teacher and aunt Ms. Ethel Lawrence. My aunt was the one aunt that taught me honesty. I received a bad grade on my report card and I tried to change it. My mom saw it and I told her that the teacher made a mistake. Guess who called that night to talk with my mom. She said I got on Shawn about that W in Math. I had changed it to VG which was a very good. My mom got me that night and she got me when I got to school the next day. I never changed another grade from that day forth. I found a true friend and caring loving person in my aunt. She was always there if I had trouble in school, she kept up with me. She was the silver lining for me in so many dark clouds that I had.
   The last person is Ms. Diane Foreman. She is my mother's best friend and she adopted us as her God children. She gave me my first babysitting job at the age of 12. This help encourage my love for children along with taking care of my sisters and brothers. She helped me experience things that my mom and dad could not do. She helped me put on makeup for the first time. I really enjoyed her. I could talk with her about things that I was uncomfortable talking to my mom about. She never told my mom unless I wanted her to. Every lesson that I have ever learned from these five great people has had a profound impact and purpose in my life. They taught me to write down my vision and make it plain. They also taught me that nothing is handed to you in life you must set goals and put in the work to achieve them. They built that solid foundation within me that I built in my own children and my grandchildren and the children that I have taught and teach on a daily basis. If I can touch the life of one child then my life and living will not have been in vain.