Dreams Really Do Come True

By Gail Turner Stevenson

This is an autobiography about a little girl who was separated from her family as she struggles with a lifetime of events that unfold. Along the way, she discovers God and how he answers her prayers at a very young age, as she tries to keep reaching out to find her family. But there's always an obstacle in the way. She has to be courageous and strong as God directs her through challenges and sometimes loneliness, but because of her love and devotion toward God, he answers her prayer, exactly what she asks for. She gives her testimonies and scriptures to light up the path for all readers so that they can witness all the gifts, miracles, and radiant love that God gives to anyone who receives him in their heart. That little girl is me, the author. Join me in my journey as we travel through life's narrow path and be uplifted in knowing that God is always there. He carried me through the roughest storms and now, I see a rainbow of miracles that took place in my life and still continue, today. Dreams really do come true! -Gail Turner Stevenson

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781635257083

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Gail Turner Stevenson

ISBN 978-1-63525-707-6 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-63525-708-3 (Digital)

Copyright © 2017 by Gail Turner Stevenson

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, 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 publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

296 Chestnut Street

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - A Rainbow Is Born

Chapter 2 - Storm over the Rainbow

Chapter 3 - My Prism of Happiness

Chapter 4 - A Spring Break to Remember

Chapter 5 - My Pot of Gold

Chapter 6 - A Blooming Rainbow

Chapter 7 - The Dawn of a New Beginning

Chapter 8 - Joyride into the Beams

Chapter 9 - Good-Bye, My Friend beyond the Rainbow

Chapter 10 - Illuminating Cascade of Teen Years

Chapter 11 - A Burst of Love in Color

Chapter 12 - Life under the Triumphant Arch

Chapter 13 - Smiling Daughter of the Sun

About the Author

I would like to dedicate this book to

My loving husband and soul mate, Timothy W. Stevenson, Sr.

My Father God, head of my rainbow

To Tim and my grown children and all our grand children

My adopted parents who rescued, adopted, and loved me, Jimmy and Elsie Jean (Reed) Turner

My biological family, Shirley M. (Webb) Arms (birth mother)

My biological siblings Dale, Rita, Jeff, Russell, Joyce Elaine, and Melanie

~ In Memory ~

Jimmy and Elsie Jean (Reed) Turner

My grandfather (Jean’s) dad, John Andrew Reed

My grandparents (dad’s parents), H.B and Yantis (Rodgers) Turner

My best friend in the whole world, Deanna Bush

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All these people in my life have inspired me to write this book. I am so thankful that

God placed them in my path, and I am so honored to have known my wonderful

family and friends.

This is an autobiography about a little girl who was separated from her family as she struggles with a lifetime of events that unfold. Along the way, she discovers God and how he answers her prayers at a very young age, as she tries to keep reaching out to find her family. But there’s always an obstacle in the way. She has to be courageous and strong as God directs her through challenges and sometimes loneliness, but because of her love and devotion toward God, he answers her prayer, exactly what she asks for. She gives her testimonies and scriptures to light up the path for all readers so that they can witness all the gifts, miracles, and radiant love that God gives to anyone who receives him in their heart. That little girl is me, the author. Join me in my journey as we travel through life’s narrow path and be uplifted in knowing that God is always there. He carried me through the roughest storms and now, I see a rainbow of miracles that took place in my life and still continue, today. Dreams really do come true!

Chapter

1

A Rainbow Is Born

Hi. My name is Gail, and I have many things to share about my life. Many events unfolded from an early age . . . even up until now as a grown woman. This is a true story about all the happenings in my existence and this is how I remember things. No one could imagine what a person could endure, what I lived through, what made me a strong person, and what brought me closer to my loving God. I have many testimonies to tell the world that I know about Him . . . for He wants us to tell what we experience and that I will reveal.

I start now with the beginning at the time of my birth. Grab a cup of coffee and go back with me in time. Relax, enjoy a long story you will never forget, and go with me on my long journey that made me a faithful believer in God. I was born September 16, 1965 in Dallas, Texas at Parkland Hospital, as the sixth child and Dale, my twin, was the seventh. We were five minutes apart, and I was born breech.

My mom had no sedation. What a hard time she went through. Her name was Shirley M. Arms, and she came from a large family also of eight siblings, in which she was born the ninth. To go on with my story, I was told that my twin and I were really good babies. We lived in the projects, and I know that my mom had a hard time raising us in that neighborhood. She struggled financially, and my father had left us for the first time when my twin and I were two weeks old. They got back together when we were four months old, and at that time, I had pneumonia. The second time and last time he left her, we were nine months old. He didn’t come back until ten years later, and I will tell about that toward the end of my story. I never knew my father and wished I could have.

I really should name all my birth brothers and sisters. They were in order as followed: Rita, Jeff, Russell, Melanie, and Joyce Elaine. Then of course, Dale and me. I’m sure we kept our mother very busy. I know now some things that occurred while we were living in the projects. I, myself, don’t remember these things because I was too young, but Mother shares them with me occasionally. She remembers when my twin and me were babies. All the neighbors she knew wanted to pick me up more than my twin. She said one neighbor noticed it, and so she started picking Dale up more so he wouldn’t feel left out. I thought that was so sweet of that person to do that.

Mother said we had several friends in that community. She also stated one neighbor actually filmed all of us, at times. I would love to find the person and see those movies. I often wonder whose basement the old film is sitting in, or does it even exist still? Do the people who filmed it wonder where we are? Did they throw it away? Or might there be a chance we’ll ever see that missing link again? I wished so that I could see that footage. Those moments would have been the most precious moments in our young and tender lives. It can never be replaced, and it was on someone’s movie camera. I feel that when we all go to heaven, we’ll all see an instant replay of all our happiest moments.

I’m sure God would want us to have closure and peace on things that were missing in our lives. Some of the fondest memories have been told to me by my brothers and my sisters. I recall Russell telling me that when he was little, he remembered waiting at the stop sign while on his tricycle for our father when he would get off the bus. Then he remembers when father didn’t get off the bus and that’s when he had left us. Rita remembers when someone broke into the apartment at the projects and tried to come after her. She then screamed, and one of my brothers ran up the stairs and the intruder fled. He was never caught, but my sister didn’t get hurt and nothing happened to her. Thank God!

Rita was the older sister who always helped out with all of us. She helped Mom with changing diapers, feeding us, putting us to bed, etc. I know my mother would have been lost without her. Rita was twelve years older than me. She was lucky, I think, because I would have given anything to have baby sisters and brothers and watch them grow up. That would truly be an experience, but reality is it comes with a lot of responsibility. I know Rita didn’t think of it as fun, twenty-four seven. It had to be hard on her, and she must have felt as if she had to grow up quickly. But the blessing in this was that she was able to help Mom through hard times. It takes a special and gifted person, and Rita was patient and she managed to juggle her preteen years, the most vital time in her young life. I am so very thankful she was there for all of us.

I’m sure my older brother must have had to help too. But usually the girls have that special touch, especially when it came to changing the diapers. If the boys ever had to do it, they were probably grabbing for the clothespins for their nose.

Now back to the subject about the memories. All my brothers and sisters always bring up their most vague memories. There’s not that many that I’ve heard but there’s a reason for that. You see, when my father left, off and on as he did, my mother was alone with raising all of us children. It was too hard for her mentally, physically, and most of all financially. I was separated from my family permanently at about the age of four.

Mom Shirley’s brother, Charlie, and his wife, Carmie, decided after keeping me off and on for weekends that they would keep me. At first, Mom didn’t mind, but it turned into a battle for her because she didn’t fully intend on just giving me up. I do think it was nice for the aunts and uncles to help out with us when they did, but keeping me from my mother permanently by Carmie and Charlie turned out to be a selfish thing. Dale did end up staying with Mom, and it was sad because we had been separated. He was the youngest, like me, and I am comforted to know that there was a boy around to help Mother out as he was growing up. It turned out she had no choice that I was gone.

I know she missed me and I missed her. The really bad thing was not being able to be with my twin. Girls, too, are special to their mother. You can dress them up, and girls are every mother’s dream. Boys seem to want to be like their fathers, and girls just want to be like their mom. Our mother knew she had a long road ahead of her, and it wreaked havoc in her life. From time to time, reunions were held in our huge family. I myself do not remember any of those. I just saw a couple of photos when I got older.

Now Carmie and Charlie had two children who really were my cousins. Their names are Lori and Chris. As much as I had been staying with them, they were becoming my brother and sister. Charlie was a postman, and Carmie worked in some office from time to time. I remember her being at home with us some and I remember calling her at her office when we children had questions. When I first came to stay with them, I remember being happy and feeling loved. My faintest memory was standing up in a crib and her picking me up, rocking me, singing to me.

But as time went on, things started changing for the worse. I began to realize that they wouldn’t let me see my family anymore. I was too young to know why they weren’t letting me, but to me, there was no excuse for keeping me from them. I know that had to change me in every way. Children need their mothers, and the bonding process is a very strong healing for a child’s emotional needs. I feel because the bonding was severed, it must have caused me maybe to act out and become frustrated. I could have become depressed and developed a lot of anxieties because of the separation. My heart must have been broken, and that is no good for any child in this world.

Little did I know then that Mom did not intend on me staying with Carmie and Charlie permanently and that she was tricked by them later on. Bad things were to come. You will not believe what my aunt and uncle were capable of doing, as I tell this story. After realizing that I couldn’t see my family anymore, as a young child, I was becoming overwhelmed with feelings of insecurity. When I say that, I mean confused. I actually was scared, and with these feelings, I must have changed, too. Things were growing tense more all the time.

One day I remember that my mom Shirley brought my twin over to see me. Seems like I saw them through the curtain, and I do remember crying because Carmie was not wanting to let them in. Dale was beating on the door and crying outside. So Carmie made all of us children go to another room. Then, for some reason, she decided to let me come out and visit. That was the first bizarre thing I remember and I believe with all my heart that this was when the battle started between Carmie and Mom.

Now there were some good memories, with my uncle and his family. I remember having Christmases with them. Carmie played the organ and Charlie played the guitar. We’d sing Christmas songs and we got toys and had another Christmas over at Carmie’s mom and dad’s house. One time, I remember being in a Christmas play at church with Uncle Charlie. I was dressed in a silver cardboard box as some character, and we had a skit together. Seemed like it was about a white Christmas and he played his guitar during this skit. Even at times, he’d play his guitar at home and we’d sit around him and sing. This was a positive thing for me. I remember I started calling Carmie and Charlie Mom and Dad. I learned to accept there was no going back to my family and so this was my way of trying to fit in, by making them my mom and dad.

Time was passing, and days were struggles. Carmie began to become more and more impatient all the time. I would get up at night to go to the bathroom and I tried to be quiet as I could be, but she would somehow always know it was me. She would yell out for me to be quiet. Maybe I was making noise . . . but she always was mad and let me know the next morning. You know when you’re young and you haven’t quite mastered cleaning well after you have gone to the bathroom? Well, I had that problem too. Carmie would just grow madder all the time about those things. She began to slap me in my face, jerk me around, and say the worst things to me. As if I wasn’t embarrassed enough about such a private issue. Seemed like the more I tried, the worse the situation came. I remember her getting mad about small things. She would tell me to pack my bags and leave. I must have been seven or eight at that time. She would give me those paper bags from the grocery store and say, Start packing! I would then I’d walk down our street, Aster Street.

I always remember where we lived. I’d walk down the highway nearest where we lived. Carmie would then come looking for me in her green station wagon. She would be apologizing and crying, she and I both, but sometimes she didn’t give an apology. This seemed to happen a few times, and I never could understand what I was doing that wrong, to be so rejected and unloved. I felt my patience wearing thin, too. Then there was school, Lida Hooe Elementary School. I remember walking to and from school all the time. Sometimes, I’d walk with Lori and Chris, other times by myself. I think they left earlier at times or just didn’t want me walking with them.

I don’t even know if Carmie and Charlie even knew this. It seems as I did tell them, but it didn’t seem to matter to them. There was an old dilapidated house that was two stories that always gave me the creeps when I had to walk by it by myself. People would say it was haunted. Even Chris would tell me that. One time, I was walking alone to school, and this car pulled up next to me on the street. This weird-looking man rolled his window down and asked if he could take me to school. I knew better than to say yes. I did say no. I couldn’t help but observe what he was wearing. I didn’t know this then, but the gold chains he was wearing around his neck may have indicated he was a pimp or something.

I can see one of those on TV now, as a grown woman, and relate to what he was. It was the way he talked, his gestures, his look, and he was wearing black. He was a threat to me, and I had more than one encounter with that man. One morning, he tried again. I told him no, but he kept driving beside me. I saw a girl I knew walking to school by herself too. I hollered at her and called her name. She turned and looked at me as he sped off, but by the time I caught up with her, he was still in sight. I asked her to help me write down the license plate number. She happened to get