Hello, Ladies.
They are silly because they laugh and they make you laugh. They enjoy life, and they are having the time of their lives. What is life without laughter? It's too doggone serious, that's what it is. Girlfriends, sometimes you just have to let that inner child in you just burst out in laughter and have the bestest fun in your life every chance you get. Keep company with women who welcome you to join them in the festivities of utter silliness. You'll never have a dull moment.
Let me say this - La'Vonda Wilder and Crystal Beatty have met challenges that they successfully overcame. That means that these two women are not to be denied their due respect. They have my utmost respect, and I think you'll be inspired by their stories. That's why they are both featured in the 21st Century Woman Spotlight. Love ya, Vonda & Crystal!! -demetrice
SPECIAL EDITION
Two Professional Women at Orange County Corrections Department Who Are Designing Pathways to Emotional and Intellectual Success
"I became a different person. I see the difference in my work ethics. I give it 110 percent. I do my work passionately. I don't do it for the pay because I enjoy doing it. I see the difference in how my supervisors treat me. People are calling me and asking me to work on projects, and I'm on leave right now. I know I'm a different person now. Definitely!"
La'Vonda Wilder shares how her personal life correlates with her professional life
Classifications Officer La'Vonda Wilder boasts matter-of-factly that her wonderful sense of humor livens a quiet room with energetic laughter and her beautiful smile welcomes compliments that energize engaging conversations.
Then, in a sweet breath of candidness, the Kissimmee, Florida resident admits, "Right now I don't feel that I am a strong person emotionally. I feel almost like a baby right now. I'm learning new things. I'm becoming more in touch with myself. I don't want to re-invent or re-create myself. I want to learn La'Vonda. It's very hard because I've created an image that people really can't touch."
On the flip side, this 'fabulous and 40' woman always feels intellectually strong because she has everything at hand and doesn't mind reaching out for help when hard reality sets in. As this stiletto-shoes-loving woman eases on down the road of self-discovery, she'll easily strut pass Compassion Street because caring about the well-being of others comes naturally for this high-stepping survivor.
During the most negative time of her private life, she graciously opened her heart and exposed a well-kept secret to help a co-worker in emotional distress. Contrary to the rhythmic wisdom of the late legendary soul singer Sam Cooke, Vonda had no idea that a change was gonna come in her personal and professional lives.
None of Vonda's co-workers knew she had been diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time. In fact, they were unaware of her first diagnosis of Stage 3 at age 23. They only knew she displayed a mean 'I don't care attitude,' but they knew not why she lashed out angrily at the world. No one ever received an invitation to her self-pity parties.
"I started feeling weird about people in general. I felt like I didn't have to be a good person anymore because I was going to keep getting afflicted with something. I did not give my best at work. People probably didn't want to work with me."
One fateful day a co-worker expressed concern about her mother's recent diagnosis of breast cancer. Immediately Vonda began revealing the painful secrecy behind her masked anger with tender loving care.
"I realized that I could have a positive effect on somebody. I stayed after work and told her my whole story because I thought she needed that. I shared everything I had gone through. I wanted her to know that I'm still standing and that breast cancer wasn't a death sentence for her mom."
"You know what compassion does?" she asks rhetorically. "It makes you realize how important you are, also," she answers with her signature smile.
What a change! These days Vonda shines in her brilliance in both her personal and professional lives by adding a 'little extra flair' and 'pep in her step' in everything she does with her definition of success in mind. What's more - she likes and respects herself. "I have to like myself first before I can allow someone else to start liking me. And if I don't respect myself, I can't open up and allow anyone else to respect me."
Happiness, sans materialistic success, is what La'Vonda really wants out of life.
And her pretty 19-year-old daughter, Chafon, who has a shy spirit and beautifully thick black eyebrows, makes this diva mom the most happy. Definitely!
Vonda says that her relationship with Chafon is good because she allows her daughter to voice her opinion, and she listens to what she has to say. When the mother and daughter duo are not making important life-changing decisions, they go on shopping sprees at DSW Shoes and JC Penney in search of shoes, clothes and 700 plus thread count sheets.
"Our relationship is so important, and it has always been just the two of us, on all accords. You don't see one of us without the other. I enjoy being with her. Right now I'm a little upset about this school thing, but I'm moving past that because school isn't for everyone. But I do respect her decisions. Just because you are a kid doesn't mean you don't have a voice. And I think that she respects my decisions. Decisions affect the both of us," says La'Vonda Wilder, who earned both bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology, despite the obstacles cast to discourage her passion for higher education.
"I love my mother so much that when I come home and walk in the door and I see her here, I smile. She brings joy to my life; she is the light of my life. If I'm having a bad day I know I can call my mother, and she will just turn it around. I just enjoy knowing that she's my mother. Also, knowing that other people show love for my mother makes me smile." - Crystal Beatty
A mother's generational advice: love your child unconditionally, aim high and always act like a lady
Crystal Beatty was 16 years old and pregnant when her mother announced, "You're a woman now, and you're responsible for someone else." Later on that night, nearly 30 years ago, the Brooklyn, New York teenager pondered long and hard about the picture of reality painted by her devoted mother- the serious nature of motherhood. She attributes that conversation to the beautiful and deep relationship she and her daughter have cultivated through the years.
The gregarious Staffing Coordinator and devoted mother of 20-something Tiona, proudly displays on her office desk a picture of her and her mother, Marjorie, inside a frame inscribed with 'It's official. I've become my mother.' Quite a feat for a once rebellious teenager who, with support from her mother and strong determination, successfully graduated from high school on time, avoided the welfare system and worked hard to provide love, care and parental guidance for her precious baby daughter.
Crystal faithfully passes down her mother's wisdom to her daughter, nieces and nephews. See, Marjorie showered her own daughter and three sons with deep love and sound advice - love your children unconditionally, aim high, don't talk foolishness, be responsible and accept consequences for your mistakes.
Don't get it twisted, desperate times forced Marjorie to show tough love when the feisty teenage daughter got a little bit too wild in her sophomoric attempt to gain attention.
"I remember once when I was on the train in New York talking loud and being obnoxious, somebody told my mother. After my mother knocked my head off, she told me, 'At all times conduct yourself like a lady because when you're in the street you represent me.' After waking up out of my coma, I took that advice and passed it down to my daughter," laughs Crystal, who walks confidently with her head held high... talks intelligently with steady eye-to-eye contact... and dresses impeccably. She IS an educated lady who has dual bachelor's of science degrees in human resource management and business administration.
Mom and daughter are inseparable, and they have much in common: same birthday, college-educated, opinionated, shopaholics and conscious of their appearances. And they often venture eerily into the twilight zone when they speak and think similarly - simultaneously. Their strong mother-daughter connection keeps them emotionally and intellectually wired when separated from one another, if only for a moment.
"She takes care of me mentally mostly because she keeps me happy, even though she gets on my nerves sometimes," laughs the retired special education teacher. "Crystal keeps me happy. She keeps me happy! When she comes home, I look forward to it when she says, 'Marge!!"
Crystal dutifully protects and takes good care of the Beatty family matriarch. "I can't fathom being without her. During the day, if I don't hear from my mother I get nervous... My mother did everything in her power to make sure I succeed in life. She raised me, now it's my turn to give back and make her feel as comfortable as possible. It's my duty."
 |
Marjorie & Crystal inside their beautiful South Orlando home. |
Her love for me is different than her love for my brothers, but it's still love. -Crystal
The mother-daughter connection is very important. If you don't connect, you can't relate. If you can't relate, you can't love. There is nothing without connection.-Marjorie
WHAT'S COMING UP IN JULY
Candace Ribblett fell in a sinkhole on her road of life. She shares a recent negative experience that many women can relate to. Click here to read her poem.
No comments:
Post a Comment