Confidant

My mother is one of the coolest people I know. Her smile was magnetic. People just flocked to her. She had tons of friends. All of them looked different and had different stories. My mother always lent her ear and heart...just in Jackie's way.

I can remember my mother shaking her head in disgust when her girlfriends would confide their woes. The smell of menthol cigarettes and Chinese takeout visited along with the trouble. Jackie would order out. She said that the time spent cooking would take her away from the "good shit".

Jacqueline Sandra Antoinette Shury (and later Carter) was born on February 12, 1961. Not on 2.14.58 as she would have most believe. Born in Queens, New York and shipped to Guyana, she stood second to the youngest out of 8 siblings. Her mother was somewhere between manic depression and schizophrenia. Her father spent years trying to compensate for the mistakes he made in choosing the person to have children with.
Jackie (as everyone called her because she simply wouldn't have it any other way) attended Bethune-Cookman College as graduated with a degree in Human Services. She had 3 children.
In 1991, Jackie became pregnant with her last child... the boy she wanted. It was at this time she was diagnosed with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) along with her unborn child.

My mother fought for 10 years.
She was tired.
So finally, she rested on December 23, 2001.

This is the surface. The memories I have are so much richer and full of life. I feel obligated to remind those who have forgotten.