Born to Fight

By Steve Morgan

Steve Morgan's life has indeed been a fight, against racism, loss, sabotaged dreams and – the hardest opponent of all – himself. Read about the lessons Steve learnt on the way, and why he believes that winning the fight of life can only be done when you make sure you have God in your corner.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steve Morgan
• Release date: Jul 14, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310632969

Steve Morgan

Born into a Christian family, in 1971, Steve applied himself to an extensive study of Christianity through the 1990’s. Leading to a departure from the faith in the mid 2000’s. In 2012 Steve was forced into retirement with a disability. Since, his life has grown with several interests emerging. An amateur parrot breeder, amateur Colour Pencil artist, writer, reader & avid lawn Bowler. Is a fan of quality film, documentaries, & intelligent comedy: “Fluffy”, & Bill Bailey. He has an ever widening assortment of interests; Current affairs, quirky history, Stoicism, philosophy, & Egyptian History. Never married, he lives alone in regional Victoria, Australia, with his beloved parrots. Interest in paronomasia, & neologisms began in earnest during the worlds longest lockdown in Victoria, Australia during the recent Covid-19 pandemic, 2021. Producing The Standard Religiously Irrelevant Version, a parodied edition of several Christian folklore.

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Copyright © 2014 by Steve Morgan.

Steve Morgan asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, stored in a database or retrieval system, adapted, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.

Dedications

I dedicate this book firstly to The Lord God Almighty for giving me the courage, vision and focus to fulfill my desire. To my wife for being consistent in loving me through all the ups and downs you have always been by my side supporting me, I love you!

To my Mother who's words have kept me grounded and will always echo all the days of my life in my heart and mind, your resilience to life's pressures, your praying spirit, your love and selfless commitment to loving us all is beyond description. I thank you from the depths of my heart for who you were in my life.

To my Dad and all my siblings especially my sisters Maria and Davina you guys are the greatest and your love and strength continues to flows through me and always will.

To my kids, I love you, you are my elevation the rhythm of my heart, the life in my veins.

Contents

Acknowledgement 4

Chapter 1 The beginning 6

Chapter 2 Temperament & Tenacity 10

Chapter 3 Secondary School 19

Chapter 4 Estate Troubles 25

Chapter 5 Yorkshire 31

Chapter 6 Relationships 34

Chapter 7 New Changes 39

Chapter 8 Mixed Feelings 42

Chapter 9 New Opportunity 48

Chapter 10 Disappointments 51

Chapter 11 My Loss 56

Chapter 12 Broken Hearts 61

Chapter 13 Rebuilding 66

Acknowledgments

I would like to say a huge thank you to my Editor, Alison Pugh for all your hard work and commitment to this project, I appreciate you.

I would also like to thank Nathan Garwood my talented Graphic Designer.

To my long-life friends, Michael Lance Carby, Johnnie Brown and my brother in Christ, Mark Pomell. You have all been a great inspiration to me in many ways and have challenged me to live more from the inside out.

To all those who have been apart of my journey I would like to thank you.

May the Lord shine upon you always and keep you in perfect peace.

Born to fight

By Steve Morgan

"My mother once told me that, when I was a few months old, I became extremely unwell. When she took me to the doctor they gave me the wrong medicine and I got even worse. In fact, it wasn't until the third visit to our GP that I was given the correct medicine and finally started to get better.

It seems to me that my life started with a battle, one that my mum was not going to let me lose, and I think that, in many ways, this first battle defined the rest of my life. I was destined to be a fighter. Struggles would seek to beat me down and close the way forward, but I kept getting back up to look for a new road and try again – until, thanks to God, I finally started to follow the right path."

Steve Morgan's life has indeed been a fight, against racism, loss, sabotaged dreams and – the hardest opponent of all – himself. Read about the lessons Steve learnt on the way, and why he believes that winning the fight of life can only be done when you make sure you have God in your corner.

Chapter 1 - The beginning

My parents were both born and raised in Jamaica, my father in Kingston, and my mother in the more rural St Andrew’s. They each came to England in the late 60s, and my dad’s parents settled in Halifax, while my mum’s family moved to Beeston, closer to Leeds.

My father’s parents were both really hard workers, and kept the same jobs from the moment they got to England to the day they retired – practically unheard of in this day and age. Granddad was employed as a machine operator in a manufacturing warehouse, while my grandma had a job as a nurse at a hospital in Halifax. I remember, as a kid, visiting them and hearing my granddad get up at four in the morning to start work for five. I used to think he was crazy doing a job where he had to wake up so early every day, but of course it meant that he’d finish work at one o’clock and we would get to spend time with each other – one of our favourites was eating fish and chips for lunch together. Another favourite was the drive to drop off and pick up my grandma when she started work at 3 pm. and finished at 10 each evening. I loved looking out at the views as we wound along the country lanes – with large trees and greenery on one side and hills and valleys on the other, it always looked so peaceful and beautiful to me. I enjoyed every visit to Halifax seeing my dad’s parents and siblings, and would visit the area often during school holidays. From about the age of 10 I was even allowed to travel up there by myself. It was always exciting; being dropped off at Victoria Coach Station by my dad, the long drive up the M1, the joy of spotting my granddad as I arrived in Halifax. Even now I love travelling up that motorway, looking at the beautiful views and letting the peace wash over me.

My maternal grandmother was a lovely woman – beautiful and very kind hearted; my mum looked just like her, and I loved her very much. She was the best baker, too, always cooking, and I could never get enough of her cakes in particular. Sadly, I never really liked her husband, and I’m not sure he liked me much either – he would barely speak to me and my siblings unless he had to. I found out when I was about 11 that he wasn’t my real granddad, who’d left when my mum was 12 years old. She told me once that he’d just given her some clothing and money, said goodbye and driven away. As I got older, I realised how much she still missed