Dear Diary 38

Dear Diary,

I've been feeling so run down lately. One of my co-workers mom is really sick and she has been out. Since i'm the only one who knows how to do her work I got saddled with it. I didn't even have time to do my own. It pissed me off, but I did what I had to do. I would want someone to fill in for me if, God forbid, my mother was sick. I was swamped the entire week, but thinking of my co-worker sitting next to her mother on her death bed pushed me to continue.

Losing a parent is such a terrible thing. My father passed away ten years ago and even though it's getting easier to deal with, I think about him every day. I did not get the chance to tell him goodbye. I got a phone call telling me he was gone. That is the worst thing I have ever experienced. One minute we were making plans for him to visit and the next minute he was gone.

I try to live the life I think my father would be proud of. I know that he is watching me and I want him to do it with a smile. I miss him so much. He's the reason for my love of sports and music. We would talk on the phone for hours about the Yankees or the new music that was out.

The original Yankee Stadium is being torn down and replaced by some new fangled bull that's going to be so expensive that families will no longer be able to go to games. I'm so glad I have the memories of going to games with my daddy. We had so much fun. I loved sports when all my friends were beginning to turn into girly girls. I've always been sort of a tomboy.

I thank God that my mother is still alive. She works so hard. She's part of the reason I work so hard to get my book published. The dream is to sell so well that my mother can stop working. I'm sure that will take a couple books, but you never know what could happen. I love my mother. She's my example of a strong black woman on the move. There is not one lazy bone in her body. I hope to be like her when I grow up.

Here's to the father I lost who taught me so much and the mother who is the first strong black woman I ever met.