Lost and Found: A Journey from Darkness into the Light

By Betty W. Taylor

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• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 26, 2007
• ISBN: 9781467861984

Betty W. Taylor

Betty W. Taylor lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband George and their two adult children daughter, Dionne and son Bryan. She grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Then, graduating high school in the class of 1960. Her undergraduate studies began at Owen Jr. College in Memphis Tennessee, where she met her husband of forty-four years. Marriage interrupted her pursuit of her Bachelor degree for more than thirty years. In 1964, Betty transferred her college credits to attend Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C. After a couple of semesters at JCSU; she dropped out of school to go to work and help her husband financially. In 1992, Betty enrolled at Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C. and completed work on her Bachelor of Arts degree that was awarded in 1995. “Writing” is a gift from God. Earlier in my life I wrote poems and song lyrics. In the early 60’s I wrote lyrics to two songs that were recorded. One song was recorded by the Staple Singers with Mavis Staples singing the lead. The other song was written for a famous girl’s group called the “Emotions” who were also from Chicago and managed at the time by Pervis Staples of the Staple Singers. Recently, she wrote an essay in tribute to her eighty-fi ve year old mother that was printed in National Public Radio’s series called “Th is I Believe”. This journey of the last twenty years is my testimony to God’s grace and mercy during the most challenging time of our lives. My mother often uses the quote “If God brings you to IT; He will take you through it”! He has never left me alone. To God, be the glory!

Book preview

Lost and Found

A Journey from Darkness into the Light

by

Betty W. Taylor

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AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200       

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2007 Betty W. Taylor. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 12/20/2007

ISBN: 978-1-4343-5567-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4678-6198-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007909483

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my mother, Mrs. Hazel Williams, and the memory of my late father, John H. Williams, Sr., who passed on Father’s Day of 1964, and my only brother, whose writing inspired me to use my gift of writing.

Nobody has cheered me on more than my best friend, Anna Hampton.

Thanks to all of my family, scattered near and far across the country.

Acknowledgments

Several people invested in the development of this effort. I begin by thanking Donna Slesinger for her tireless work typing this manuscript. Thanks also to Amanda, Jeanette, Dee Ann, Jennifer, Mary, Ayesha, Debra, Deborah, Susan, Tara, Pam, Michelle, Barbara C., Monica, and Holly, Sharon, Thyssen, and Verna, who was the first to welcome me at my current employment: Thank you.

Stephanie: First of all, thanks for your early and constant support of this effort.

Miriam: I appreciate the challenges you offered me to step out of my comfort zone.

Patricia Burris and Fazile Schultz: You have each brought something special to my life—thank you.

Nina and Minister Nicole from my church, University Park Baptist Church: Thank you for encouraging me to share my testimony.

Special thanks to the Charlotte - Mecklenburg Police Department, sworn and non-sworn, for their support.

For those people I have forgotten to mention, I beg your understanding and forgiveness.

Last, but certainly not least: To my family, George, Dionne, and Bryan, who were the focus of this book. Thank you for allowing me to share our story with so many people. As a family, we are stronger than ever. Hopefully, those who read this will find consolation in how our struggles held us together as a family, instead of breaking us apart.

Purpose

Lost and Found is the title I chose for this book because those three words accurately reflect the stages of my journey over the last twenty years. I want this book to encourage and uplift people who are going through a storm, and feel helpless and hopeless. Over the last twenty years, I have dealt with the ups and downs of being caregiver for my husband of forty-four years. He suffered two strokes within twenty-four hours of each other, which left him paralyzed and unable to communicate. During this period, I was also working full time while supporting two children, both financially and emotionally. At times, I have been lost and found as I have walked this journey. Through all the hard times, it has been my faith in God that has sustained me, time after time. Along this journey, God has placed people in my path who have encouraged and supported me when I felt like giving up.

One of the most frequently asked questions of me is, Why did you wait so long to write this book? My response is simply, I had to live it before I could write about it. God has given me a testimony that will help someone else who has to go through this experience or another: Pain is pain.

Lost and Found

(A journey from darkness, into the light.)

Lord, we know that suffering is a necessary part of life, even though we don’t always understand why this is true. We also know that our lives have a specific purpose, and God uses our suffering and trials to refine our spirit and produce the assurance that He never leaves us alone to deal with the suffering and trials.

Lost and found is the perfect phrase that describes a good portion of my life. It refers to a time in my life when, in my mind, I had it all—a loving and very supportive family, a good job, and the means to purchase anything that I wanted or thought I needed—and yet, I was miserable. A quote comes to mind that sums up my feelings at that time: "Life can sometimes break your heart, but you can’t let it break your spirit." For me, this has been my greatest challenge, and will continue to be. I invite you to walk with me on this journey and witness some of the challenges that life has thrown at me, that could have broken my spirit.

I was the firstborn of John and Hazel Williams. I was born on December 28, 1942. My brother, John, Jr., followed me into the world sixteen months later, on April 9, 1944. Our parents were hard-working, God-fearing people who grew up at a time in this country’s history when life was hard and opportunities were few for people of color. Although circumstances hindered and sometimes prevented the amount of formal education my parents received, they nevertheless were staunch in their support of my education, as well as my brother’s.

My father was drafted into the army in the early forties, as were most young black men of his time, especially those whose education was minimal and whose job skills were even more limited. Griffin, Georgia was the birthplace of both of my parents, known more for the color of the dirt (red clay) than anything else. Atlanta is roughly twenty to thirty miles from Griffin. That was the place many aspired to live, because