Bri (I Am From)

Have you ever met someone and felt like you’ve known him or her forever? That’s how it feels with Bri. You know, it must be a little intimidating (a little, to put it lightly!) to walk into a seniors’ writing class expecting “class” in some form, only to see the most close-knit group of people, laughing, crying, hugging, clapping, calling each other their best friends. But with Bri, you get the feeling that she just belongs. She gets us right away. Some seniors take months to open up. Bri took no time. This poem is what she wrote the second time she ever joined.

And you know what she said yesterday? “I have only been here for a month, but I wish I had been here for years.” Of course she said this knowing we’ve only been around for just over a year. How perfect is she? I’ve got more to share… wait till you see what else she wrote in the next blog post…!

Bri Kurmue
2/24/2011
I Am From…

1.  I Am From: Rats and mice and from roaches and flies and chinches and nightmares

2.  I Am From: An overly crowed two (2) bedroom house filled with nine (9) people, one (1) dog, one (1) cat and one (1) toilet

3.  I Am From: The deliciously cooked pots of pigtails and smoked meat, collard greens, the yam, baked candied and sweet. The taste still lingers on my tongue and in the crevices of my mind

4. I Am From: Bless your food before you eat. Wash your hands before you go into the refrig. Most definitely wash your hands after using the bathroom

5. I Am From: Nettie-Mae Spurell Spivey. And she was the MOTHER.  A strict disciplinarian.  And she had a humorist personality.  One of the best mommies that ever walked this earth.  I will never forget her goodness nor her love

6a. I Am From: The place of horrid existence, struggled living and continuous love, thrift store shopping with a practiced eye, searching for the best and finest clothing for her six (6) children, who were always the best dressed children in the neighborhood, public schools and Church.

6b. I Am From: Boys hair cuts, girls hair pressed/curled plus touched up every two (2) weeks

6c. From: Her Mantra.  If you lie, you will steal.  If you steal, you will take drugs and kill, then end up in the jail house. 

And: That we (my brother/sisters) should always remember and believe that Jesus loves you and holds you in the hollow of His hands.

7a. I Am From: A Christian background, Sunday school, Bible study and church all day Sunday

7b.  Having to renew my faith continuously as I journeyed thru this harried life

8a. I Am From: Prejudiced North America and I am an Afro-American female

8b: Two (2) foods that represent family: boxes of Argo starch and bottles of Pepsi Cola

9a: From the: Jimmy Martin. An absent father and a person whom, we (brothers/sisters) never recognized as father and never called daddy! He was only a shadow in our lives.
It took me many years to comprehend how my mom could even love such a man, let alone have children by him.

* But life’s journey has taught me about that emotion  – love – and how it can color your best intentions and shade your dreams.

9b. From the: Wonderful, sweet, loving maternal grandmother that was always there for Nettie-Mae. And her six (6) children.  Bringing food when the belly and the cupboard was empty.  Buying us comic books, jump ropes, skates and even a puppy for xmas. She also took us to the seashore in the summer time.  I was named after her.

10. I Am From: Nettie-Mae Spurell Spivey and Jimmy Martin.  Each has since died and now uses Heaven as an address.  Leaving on Planet Earth – Jimmy, Sandy, Cukie, Carl and Rickey.  The essence of their shared love.