Strong Women: A Collection of Short Stories

By Dyla Webb

In her powerful memoir, Dyla Webb shares thoughts, reflections, and vignettes about her life. Through each page, she shares details about her upbringing and most defining experiences. Life is a journey filled with lessons, hardships, and celebrations. Now, Dyla is excited to share parts of her journey with you through her must-read story.

Although the road is inevitably never easy, this book was written to inspire and uplift. This is an essential book not only for women, but all who appreciate a compelling story of a life well lived. Knowledge and wisdom is best learned through life experiences, and this book shares impactful insight that will stick with you for years to come.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Dec 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9781667804422

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Acknowledgements

God for Everything

In Memory of My Loving Husband

My Son for Encouragement

My Daughter-In-Law Who Is My Mentor

Strong Women

A Collection of Short Stories

©2021 Dyla Webb

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

print ISBN: 978-1-66780-441-5

ebook ISBN: 978-1-66780-442-2

Contents

Faith and Success

Passing the Baton

Choices

Change of Life

Love and Dedication

Faith

and

Success

Chapter 1

On a fairly warm day of the Spring, Ana was sitting in the window, looking out over the street, reminiscing about her life. It is the spring of 1989. She had come to the Midwest (Chicago) from a small-town in Missouri at an early age. She was 13 years old. She was brought to the Midwest by her mother, along with a sister and a little brother who was only 6 months old. She never liked the large cities because at that time, the small-town life meant everyone knew everyone else, it was less crime and more cleanliness. Moving to Chicago was really an adjustment for her. Big city newspapers were full of crimes being committed daily.

She became paranoid. She longed to go back home to that small town, but it was not to be. She always felt she would move back when she became of age not realizing by then everything would have changed there too.

People of her age group would have moved to other parts of the country by then, and the older ones would mostly have passed on.

She was not able to return until after 24 years.

Meanwhile, Ana attended and finished high school. She went to a community college for a while. She was not really motivated enough to continue and make it work for her.

Ana met someone. His name was Michael. He was street smart and much wiser than her. She became pregnant. The father left town during her pregnancy. She had her baby and did her best to take care of him. She was living at home with her mother. Money was tight but it did not have to be that way.

Had everyone worked together it would have been much easier. Instead of pulling together, the mother and sister had another agenda, looking and dressing pretty. So, the one with the baby paid more and struggled more. She really loved her child and her brother very much.

Being a single parent was difficult, but it is twice as hard if others are working behind the scenes trying to turn your child against you telling him he did not have to do what you said and they almost succeeded. Sometimes he would get into fights at school. He once said that the grandmother and aunt said he did not have to obey Ana. However, she told him as long as he was with her, he had to. He became angry and combative but never at Ana. She had no idea about what he was going through at home. He always was kind of sympathetic with Ana. They noticed at school that there were problems. The principal suggested Ana get some counseling for him, and she did. The doctor tested him every way he could. He could not find anything wrong with him. He decided to talk to him and see if he would tell him what was wrong. He asked Ana’s son if he had one wish and the doctor said he could make it happen, what would it be? He started to cry. Ana said don’t cry talk to us. He told the doctor his wish would be for him and his mother to get their own apartment. The doctor asked him why. He said because when his mother would be working his grandmother and aunt would talk about her real bad. He said he would be playing but he would be listening too. The doctor asked Ana could she afford to move? She said no, but she was going to.

Ana worked very hard. She was finally able to move out of her mother’s apartment that she shared with her mother, sister and brother. Ana and her child moved into their own apartment. It was not easy but she had peace of mind. There was a financial struggle to adjust to, but it was well worth it.

The idea of not having to worry about what her son was hearing about her, causing him to be so confused and hurt at such an early age, and not knowing what to do with his anger from what he was hearing, was worth it.

He became much more relaxed. He and Ana would sit and talk. He would tell her everything that was on his mind. They developed a good healthy relationship.

Ana had worked almost ten years on her first job. She left there because the company was moving to another town. She started another job which she worked for 27 ½ years.

She was trying to make a better life for herself and her child. She was still ridiculed by her family but she did not let it affect her. She knew it was not up to them as to whether she succeeded or not.

She realized that no matter what happened, they would always treat her that way. It would have been understandable if they were outsiders. She learned that it just did not matter. Sometimes the people against you don’t even know why they don’t like you.

Ana felt that they were the ones carrying that dislike around, not her, and it was not hurting her anymore. If they chose to feel that way, that was their problem.

Chapter 2

A year or so later Ana met someone who she felt was good for her and her child. His name was Warren. He made her happy at first but later she discovered another side to him. He was very giving, ensuring that she and her child did not want for any material thing. But she found out that he was very insecure and controlling. He did not want her to go to the store or any place else without him. She knew this was not the way life should be. She first thought it was love but soon realized it was unbearable. Ana was very uncomfortable with the relationship.

Before the relationship ended, he took Ana and her son to the town she grew up in and she got a chance to see her Godmother after 24 years. Things were still good there at that time. It was still clean and there was very little crime.

A year or so later Ana divorced Warren.

It was hard because she wanted to be married, but not to be treated like that and she knew she had a choice. No one wants to be controlled.

Ana moved to a suburb nearby and started over.

Ana had very little contact with her family. Her son went to the Armed Forces and she continued working.

Ana worked for a very long time.

Some of the things you learn on jobs are how people really are. On the second job she had, things were wonderful until the last two years, when she changed positions and that was a mistake.

She was not used to working in a group. It was always her and her manager previously. Working in a group was much different.

In groups there were deception, gossip, backstabbing and all kinds of disloyalty.

You have to learn not to be a part of that. You learn this by not getting too comfortable with people. Don’t get so comfortable that you talk freely about yourself. Because you don’t repeat things they tell you, doesn’t mean they are going to treat you that way. Often times, they will tell you something so you will open up to them. They are not going to keep what you tell them. All of them are going to tell someone else. Then there is jealously. They could have more than you, they still don’t want you to have anything. So don’t expect them to treat you the same way you treat them, they are not.

In some situations, not just work, you have to treat people kind, but distant.

Sometimes you can try too hard not realizing it. If you don’t try hard it does not mean you are selfish.

Many times people are envious and you may not even know it. They will set up situations so that others may dislike you, and you will not have a clue until that other person starts being distant and unkind to you. The last job Ana was employed on was a hospital. It was the hospital she worked at part-time. She went back there for a short period of time before she retired altogether. There was a person there that she thought was so nice. This person heard a doctor say something very nice to Ana. This person was so envious because of what the doctor said, after that the doctor became very distant to her, to the point of not speaking to her, typical example.

Being the kind of person that Ana was, at first, she would be sad when unkind things were said about her. After a long period of time, she learned from the fact that no matter what she said or did people are going to be who they are. You cannot change people. She told an associate that "no matter who says anything about her, whether it is true or not, she doesn’t care; Life is too short to be sad because someone is unkind to you.

The few times she thought someone was her friend, that person deceived her. Shortly thereafter, she gave that up. She realized that sometimes by not having people close to you, you are better off.

If you don’t allow them to be close to you there can’t be any surprises. You can have peace without a lot of people around.

Ana took an early retirement from her job that she had been on for 27 ½ years because she had put in enough time and she was at the age to take an early retirement. She wanted to do something else.

Ana always wanted to go into some type of business for herself. She just was not sure what kind. She felt that she wanted to write. But by not ever having done so she ruled that out. She also wanted to speak, hadn’t done that either. So she had to think about it, and consider her options, and what each entailed.

She remained in close contact with her son. He had relocated to a different part of the country, but they talked practically every day.

Her son was doing well by the Grace of God.

While trying to figure out what she wanted to do, Ana remembered years ago when she first moved into her apartment with her son that she did not know how to cook. She remembered how her cousin Edie her favorite cousin, who was one of the best cooks imaginable, would teach her how to cook over the phone. She remembered most of the recipes, what she did not remember she had written down.

She decided to try her luck cooking for friends. She started cooking on weekends from her apartment.

Ana read an article a long time before how people used to have Rent Parties. Where as friends would gather at each other’s apartments (whosoever’s rent was due), and buy up inexpensive food and cook it, and sell dinners to each other because no one had very much, and that is how they helped each other pay their rent. There were not very many jobs back then. This was their way of helping each other.

Ana’s intentions were not to charge for the food at first, after all, this was for a few associates and a couple of friends.

Ana’s business started to prove it could be successful, so she would start charging a small amount depending on how it grew. She learned how to prepare the night before for the next day. Ana knew with the competition that was out there that she had to offer more. She started charging a little more, but she offered a drink and a dessert with the meal.

After her business started to grow, she applied for her small business license and a small location for her restaurant.

Ana had three people that she trusted. Her cousin, Edie, a Puerto Rican girl, Ada whom Ana really referred to as a friend, and one Chinese girl, Chun. She would ask each of them to help her in her restaurant. Her cousin was retired but her two friends were out of work. Ana believed if she offered different kinds of food that would make her even more competitive because there were so many restaurants and fast food restaurants in the area.

Ana’s two friends and her cousin all agreed to work with her, and if it worked out, they would work with her full time. Her cousin and two friends were all good cooks. She offered American, Puerto Rican, and Chinese food in her restaurant which attracted a variety of customers.

After about a year, her restaurant had outgrown the first location. She had to look for a larger facility. She was so happy, and thankful.

She found another location, much larger than the previous one, so she rented that one for the restaurant.

Another thought came to her mind. Since everyone was so taken by her desserts, she asked her cousin, Edie, to run the restaurant while she tried her hand running the bakery.

Ana found an elderly person who had previously owned a small bakery and was ready to retire. The bakery he owned had served him well. He was ready to give it up and travel. He gave Ana all of the ovens and baking utensils that he had for