“I have three kids 10, 12 and 13. In 2018, their mama decided to go and she left us. My kids still love her and I try to protect that. I had a great construction job for 23 years making $25 an hour building hotels, banks and casinos around the South, but I was out of town a lot. I had a 401K and thought everything was good. But things happen in life you can’t control. After she left, I was going to quit my job and stay home with my kids, but my mama was retired and said she would stay with them. She was there for a year then she got breast cancer. I quit my job and came home to take care for her and my kids. God told me to apply for the school board, and last July I was hired to work at Foley Elementary School. My kids mean more to me than any money. They need someone to love them and give them structure. Once you give God your life and try to do the right thing, you will be blessed.

When I first got to this school, they gave me a mop and a cleaning bucket. I didn’t know what to do with them. I built new schools and never thought I would work inside one. It is a blessing to be here around kids and so much love and hugs, high-fives, and fist bumps. I now clean a lot of bathrooms. Those little boys have real bad aims. If I was a rich man, I would still do this job for free. They come up and tell me it is their birthday and I give them $5 or some ice cream. It makes my heart feel warm to do simple things for these kids. Some of them are already broken and wounded and I get to love them.

I was 19 or 20 and had a daughter born in Bay Minette. The mama and I weren’t together. I had been in Bay Minette at a baseball game and I was heading home when their apartment caught on fire. daughter and another little girl didn’t make it out. They were burned up. Every Friday when I got off from work I would take LaShonda to Dairy Queen to get strawberry ice cream. She was a beautiful little girl and we would sit there and talk. We went the weekend before the fire and when I was leaving her house she said, ‘come back, Daddy.’ Then she said, ‘Daddy I love you.’ I said, ‘I love you too baby and I will see you Friday.’ That Friday never came, but LaShonda is always in my heart. That was 1984. The worst part is still when her birthdays and holidays come around. I realized I had to get my life together for me to see her again. Sometimes God sends you a message in a terrible way. I asked God to give me another chance to raise kids. It is a father’s job to lead his children to the kingdom and I am doing the best I can.

Mama is 84 years old but she is strong. She had a breast removed but she now has cancer around her collarbone. I learned from her to be a cheerful giver. Give freely and don’t expect anything back. She told me, ‘Son you haver never been hungry or needed a roof over your head, God blessed you with a good job. You have a lot to give back.’

The pastor at our church does fundraisers to help people with their medical expenses so we are having a fundraiser lunch for my mama on Saturday, March 7 at Magnolia Springs Wesleyan Church. They are selling fried fish and chicken plates. My mama had a cancer treatment this week and she is praying to God that she can be at the lunch.

I have learned that whining doesn’t make anything easier. Just get back up and keep going. The next day will get a little easier.”