“While I was recovering from COVID, I wanted to make something nobody in Mobile had seen before. These wings popped into my head, and I went to work. It was peaceful. Just me and the feathers. I started with a wire outline, keeping it light and bouncy. Putting on the wings takes me anywhere I want to go. The tiger wings make me feel like a tiger because I’m a tiger at heart. The blue ones feel like I’m in paradise. Tupac is my favorite–I claim him as my baby daddy. 

I’m a member of the Conde Explorers Mardi Gras Society. I showed the wings to them, and folks said, ‘Ooooh, can you make another one like that?’ Watching people wear these wings is good for me, too. They are relaxed, relieved, and pretty as they twirl around like they’re floating on air. I named the wings Diamond Queens. 

I love Mardi Gras and wanted to go to every parade when I was a kid, but my grandmama told me, ‘Baby, people are tired.’ She’s the one who taught me how to be who I am today and to keep my son first. That’s why I’m still single. 

I work at Rouse’s and Amazon, hustling to give my son what he needs. Being a single parent working two jobs isn’t easy, but he’s my heart. Looking at him brings a smile to my face. I lost my other son in a miscarriage eight years ago. That’s the hardest thing I have been through. I know he’s in heaven with my grandmama, but I have an empty spot in my heart. I still think about him and honor him by keeping on and living.

I caught COVID at work. It almost took me out of here. My heart rate dropped low; my sister got me to the hospital. My friend got COVID the same day I did. She passed away. I miss her every day. Thank the Lord, it wasn’t my time.

I also love to fish at Dauphin Island. My grandmama would say, ‘Get your poles and get in the car. Let’s go fishing.’ I quit fishing after she passed. About ten years later, I told my son, ‘Let’s go fishing,’ and taught him how to fish. He caught a baby shark and threw his pole and the shark in the water–the whole thing. I cook the fish we catch, giving them to my neighbors and family. Fishing is just me, the fish, and the water. No trouble. No drama. My poles are out back, ready to go.”

Nicole