So Many Angels

By Maurice W. Dorsey

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9781669879947

Maurice W. Dorsey

Maurice W. Dorsey is the author of From Whence We Come, a novel based upon a true story; and Businessman First: Remembering Henry G. Parks, Jr., (1916–1989), Capturing the Life of a Businessman Who Was African American, A Biography. Of Time and Spirit is his third book. Since his retirement from the United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture in 2012, he has been a writer, public speaker, and advocate for the LGBTQ community. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, earning a bachelor of science degree in family and consumer sciences (1970) and a doctorate in philosophy in education (1983). He also earned a master’s degree in arts and sciences from the Johns Hopkins University (1975) and a master’s degree in education from Loyola University of Maryland (1976). He resides in Washington DC.

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Copyright © 2023 by Maurice W. Dorsey.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 06/05/2023

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

852961

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Author Note

Chapter 1 High-School-Graduation Angel

Chapter 2 Academic Angel

Chapter 3 Undergraduate Graduation Angel

Chapter 4 First Relationship Angel

Chapter 5 Connecting Angel One

Chapter 6 Leadership Angel

Chapter 7 Credible Angel

Chapter 8 Doctoral-Fellowship Angel

Chapter 9 Doctoral-Graduation Angel

Chapter 10 Love-Of-My-Life Angel

Chapter 11 Another Connecting Angel

Chapter 12 Mentorship Angel

Chapter 13 Promotion Angel

Chapter 14 Award Angel

Chapter 15 Party Angel

Conclusions

What Was Learned?

What Have I Given?

Where Are My Angels Now?

Why Did God Send Me So Many Angels?

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

So Many Angels is my fifth book. In my previous book acknowledgments, I have attempted to pay tribute to individuals who have supported me in my life, namely my parents, family, teachers, employers, and friends.

Since the publication of my books, I have had a fair amount of success with my writing. I have acknowledged some of my known readers too. In this edition, I wish to acknowledge the one person who saw a glimmer of light in my ability to undertake and publish a book when I had no history in publishing a book.

Thus, I would like to acknowledge, posthumously, Mr. Henry G. Parks, Jr., builder and creator of the Baltimore-based Parks Sausage, Inc. who, like an angel, was heaven-sent to inspire me to take the risk on something new and challenging. He said I could do it. Without Mr. Parks’s belief in me, I am not sure I would have ever become a writer.

Businessman First, my first book, is the biography of his life. It was Mr. Parks who entrusted me as a first-time writer to embark on one book that has led me to publish four additional books. It is important to have angels who believe you can when you believe otherwise.

In memory of Mr. and Mrs. James Roswell

Dorsey, Sr., my guardian angels.

AUTHOR NOTE

The definition of the word angels is varied by many theologian and lay people. For this book, it is simply a messenger between God and humanity, a human spirit that comes unexpectedly as a messenger or protector at a time of physical, mental, or emotional crisis that saves you from suffering, disappointment, or failure. Some people refer to them as messengers, guardian angels, or intermediaries.

Have you ever had a blessing that came at just the right time that saves you from something fearful? In these true vignettes, the author had no preexisting relationship with any of these messengers. A few, he never met in person; a few were educators for nine months or a semester and never saw again.

Many of these angels are deceased with the exception of a few at the time of this writing. Some passed away young. They were a combination of black, white, female, male, gay, straight, old, young, Spanish-speaking, English-speaking, and from different regions of the United States and the world. It was almost like one of their missions in life was to protect the author in a scenario of his life before they passed away.

The purpose of these vignettes is to recognize, honor, pay tribute, and most of all, thank those messengers who contributed significantly to the author’s confidence, self-esteem, and happiness and counteracted the damage inflicted by others.

To the reader, these vignettes may not read seamlessly from one to the next as they overlap in time. Although the overall book may not seem sequential, they are in proximities.

These angels also enabled the author to help others throughout his career, and as his income increased over many years, he was also able to help with his financial resources. These are his most important angels. There were numerous others in his life.

CHAPTER 1

High-School-Graduation Angel

Throughout my life, my mother always told me I was the child she never wanted to have. She described me as having a sheltered life, and she was correct. My dad, throughout my childhood, teens, and young adult years, referred to me as dumb and lucky. He spread the words that he wasn’t sure I was graduating from high school or college. He never saw me as academic material. With help from my angels, he was proven wrong. My elder siblings followed my dad’s example; thus, I was the butt end of their joking and ribbing too.

Clearly, I was an untimely birth. My dad’s assessment of me made me sad and out of place in my family. Emotionally, I was not happy to be around my family most of the time.

From birth to first grade, I was at home all day with my mother. Being the baby, I lived as an only child. I played with puzzles, coloring books, and toys I could entertain myself, while my mother conducted her chores of washing, ironing, cooking, and the like. By observation, I learned many of her feminine mannerisms and called a sissy more times than I care to remember.

When I attended the Central Consolidated School for Colored Children, the boys and girls teased, taunted, and bullied me for my effeminate mannerisms and behaviors. The children were so merciless with their abuses, I learned not to do or say much of anything in school or at home for fear of additional ridicule and mockery.

A male gay schoolteacher chastised me for not speaking up for myself to my classmates, but I didn’t feel I could take on the entire school for my difference. Instead, I used my energy every day to just breathe to replenish my depleted spirit. It was an energy-drain to just be me and to feel the need to apologize or explain myself to others each day. When you are a dependent child, the feeling is like imprisonment, for you can’t escape. It’s an emotional torture.

In the home and school environments, I just went along with the program. In school, I maintained a consistent C average