B.A.B.E-My Mama (Help Me Do Something Great for A Beverly Eubanks)

I'm about 341 miles away from the woman that's given her all to her children.  She's my everything and it's almost impossible to put into words how much I love and adore her. At 32, what she thinks, what she feels, what she says, still weighs heavily in my mind. She’s taught me such a great deal. One important thing is that we are sturdy beings. But in many ways, we are fragile. We can accept change & loss, but this comes at our own pace & in our own way. My mama helped me to realize this. She is the one person that sees me for who I am and still loves me, unconditionally. I see her face every night before I fall asleep and sometimes, and if I'm quiet enough, I hear her singing.

Throughout high school, we had a rocky relationship. There was often a lot of screaming, door slamming and silence. But over the years, we both grew as people and now things are different. She's helped me become the woman that I am today and I'm so grateful to have her in my life. If I could, I’d give her the entire world. If I could, I'd make it that she'd never feel hurt, disappointment or pain.

I owe her so much and just have to thank her… for sticking it out through the mess; thank you for laughing at and with me; thank you for holding my hand and having my back; thank you for always believing in me; thank you for listening through the tears; thank you for loving me as I am; thank you for always being honest; thank you for being a sister, brother, or friend. You've each touched my life in ways that have helped to shape my character, strengthen my "moral fortitude" and enhance my "awesome-ness".

It wasn’t until recently that I thought about my mama simply as the woman she is, stripping away any title the world’s given her. Sure she’s been a daughter, an aunt, a sister, a mother, a wife, a teacher but there’s more to her than that. I know that she’s shoulder her share of pain, discomfort, and loss. I wouldn’t begin to understand what she’s carried for all these years. Up until this very day, there are still mysteries to her that I’ll never know.  Mama sacrificed so much and in that respect, I wanted to do something for her.  Almost 40 years ago, she pawned her wedding rings to help the family out of a bind.  Although the intention was to get them back when she and dad could afford it but by the time they’d gotten in a position to do so, the rings had been sold. I’ve been trying to replace that set for 5 years but with my own finances in shambles, I’ve not be able to. This past Monday I was reading an article about a woman that was taking care of her school debt by the use of crowdfunding. I had no idea what it was, did a simple Google search and boom! I got an idea: maybe other people could help me raise enough funds to replace my mama’s wedding set.  Please help either with a donation or simply by sharing this with your friends and family.  My mama has no idea that I’m doing this for her. I’m hoping, depending on how funding goes, to give it to her for Mother’s Day or for her birthday which is in October.  I’d like to engrave it so that it reads “To Beverly, From James, Eternally”.