My Child "The Quick Fix?". C.S. Harrison

      "A child only educated at school is an uneducated child." ~ George Santayana

      Growing up in Mississippi, the state of hospitality, there were two homes that I truly cherished - my mother's in Jackson and my extended family's in Vicksburg. Both households influenced the person and father I've become... paving a path of success and establishing a solid foundation on which to base my own parenting skills. While my childhood was not perfect, the lessons I learned from my many trials and tribulations have been the stepping stones to my personal and professional life. My grandmother, Lubertha, was the matriarch of the family. She raised her thirteen children to be hardworking, self-disciplined, God fearing individuals. Respected for her guidance, advice, and wisdom she provided them, they sought the same for her thirty-seven grandchildren. And for twenty years, this became her life's work at Head Start, a program that ensures vulnerable children and families have access to the support they need in order for children to succeed.

      Perhaps it was her upbringing that made her successful in raising her kids and in her career. My grandmother built upon the techniques of my great-grandmother, Dora. Using the bible as her primary resource—since there was limited information during the 1930s; my great-grandmother used biblical principles to raise good, productive people.

      Shirley, my mother was a young country woman. Vibrant and full of energy, she was eager to trade the country life for a more exciting one in the city of Jackson to attend college. Even though her new life was only thirty minutes away, to her it felt like traveling across America. She was leaving a pretty secure life. But, she was ready to start her own adventure. And the advice she received from her mother, "Be smart and take care of yourself," would serve her well. At college, my mother was exposed to a whole new world of information. The foundation and lessons my grandmother provided, helped her differentiate between the people who would be negative influences and those who had her best interest in mind. A beautiful, intelligent, young lady, it was no wonder my father, Henry III, found her attractive. He was born in Kansas, but raised in Chicago. Career-driven and focused, are two key words that describe him. You see, he grew up in a fast-paced environment and was taught at an early age one needed to make his mark on society. His father, Henry II, represented the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) in Chicago and trained him as if he were one of the men in the teamsters' organizations. So, when he met my mother, he was overwhelmed by what he considered a complexity of attributes... while admiring the simplicity of what made her happy. Eventually the two were married. But, after three years, my father started placing his career before his family which led to their divorce. Imagine me, a three year old child trying to comprehend why his father was leaving. With my words pleading and my heart saddened "Please don't leave daddy, I will be a good boy." Leaving my mother, forced to raise two children alone, scared and unprepared. But, her survival instincts kicked in and luckily, she was able to reach out to her family for help. Her family was her support system... no matter what happened they were there to help. While they openly gave her information about the things they knew, she wondered when and where to seek information about the things her family was not knowledgeable about. At that time, there was no internet... just people, newspapers, television, and books.

      Nearly five years after the divorce, my mother started changing. Some of her friends were positive influences…others, it turned out, were negative on all of us. However; there were lessons to be learned