I Cried in a Bojangles Drive-Through

Telling my mom about you

How you treated me

Deliberately misunderstood me

Chose you instead of us

I cried and she listened

She said, “ain’t no way that’s my DNA”

Basically, I raised you better

That’s your daddy‘s doing

His weakness shining through

And ya know…

She might not be right, but she ain’t wrong

In trying to blaze my own path and make my own way out of no way,

I lost sight of the wisdom found in my mother‘s personhood

All that she is and especially all that she is not

She is nobody’s fool.

She is careful where she places the words “love” and “friend”

She knows when to sit with herself, by herself and enjoy the joys of missing out.

I sat in the Bojangles drive-through and cried. I think my mother wanted to cry with me.

Weep for me.

Instead, she pointed me back to myself.

Told me to visit my feelings, but not make a home of them.

She reminded me to be watchful.

To never let disrespect ride.

To be okay with being misunderstood.

As I make my way back to myself, I am most thankful that I am my mother’s daughter.

What a blessing.