It keeps me going, because my mother believed I could be great. So, I strive every day to be better, to prove her right.
I woke up to my cell phone ringing. I looked at the time—it was 2:30am. My mother was calling, which wasn’t unusual since I was the youngest son. When I answered, she told me she was parked outside. “Come out,” she said. She was moving to Georgia the next morning, so I knew she wanted to talk.
When I got to her car, my oldest sister was in the front seat. I got into the van, and we started talking about life. She told me she was proud of me, how I’d really gotten my life together, was being a man and a dad to my kids, and wasn’t running the streets anymore. She said she felt comfortable leaving me on my own.
That was the very last conversation I had with my mother. A month later, I caught a case that led to me being locked up for 20 years. I’ve been locked up for 9 years now, and I think about that conversation every day. It keeps me going, because my mother believed I could be great. So, I strive every day to be better, to prove her right. Rest. In. Peace. Denise.
