I AM Bold and Fearless Woman Magazine
CELEBRATING HER MOM
I watched my mom, Queen Esther Baxter, with a 5th grade education raise my brother and I after my dad died in a horrific construction accident when I was 5 years old.
She showed up for us each day in spite of her severe depression. When I was 17 years old, I noticed her challenges of dealing with mental illness.
Each day she pushed through a cruel world to fight through an illness she couldn’t control even with medicine. I lost her to choking aspiration over a decade ago. I learned through her resilience that I am stronger than I think, self care is key, and the power of compassionate, agape, unconditional love.
I was fatherless during my childhood and spent my later teenage years caring for my mentally ill mother - a time during which my only sibling was incarcerated.
After going through sexual assault and domestic abuse throughout my early twenties, I looked past my challenging beginnings and reached within myself to find strength. Later in life, I faced losing my mom, best friend, and brother(only sibling). I learned to be resilient, find solutions to problems, create and follow through on an action plan, and leverage my resources.
My relationship with my mother impacted me and it taught me how to love my children unconditionally. I cultivate a solid and positive relationship with them in order to instill confidence, provide security, as well as promote a healthy attachment style that fosters positive relationships, and builds upon other attributes such as patience, flexibility, perseverance, resourcefulness, and assertiveness.