In the spirit of Sankofa: "It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten."

I thought of my great-grandmother tonight. Thought about the fact that I never really mourned her death over a decade ago. Thought about the things she would say to me now, the wisdom she would feed me like spoonfuls of cornmeal porridge before nap time or the handfuls of ripe cherries from the tree in the front yard. Thought about how she taught me how to read and write. Thought about how she told me to continue learning my lesson. As a child, I took to her saying "lesson" as meaning school work, but now as I become more in tune with myself and the universe, I thought of this "lesson" as taking from the past to inform my present and move forward. I thought about learning from mistakes and growing from it. I thought about learning in general since I'll never stop learning and will never stop growing. As long as there is life, there is room for growth. Addy, my great-grandmother taught me that. The day I passed my common entrance exam in the sixth grade was the day that this five foot woman lifted me so high that I nearly touched the sky. Now I imagine her lifting me up where ever I go, hoisting me high above my insecurities and fear, and telling me to be confident always for as long as I live, I'll always be learning my lesson, I'll always be taking the positive things from the past, bringing them to the present and making powerful progress. When I think of Addy and what she has always taught me, I think of the Adinkra symbol, the Sankofa. A valuable lesson. "Learn your lesson", she always said. And I'm learning to move forward, leap across valleys and climb mountains knowing that her spirit is always with me...



Nicole © 2011

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