No Apologies

Yes...I come from a two parent household.

Yes....my mom & dad both went to college & earned degrees.
Yes...growing up we ate dinner at the dinner table, together.
Yes...my mom would cook, my brother and I would set the table, and my dad would smoke his pipe and pay bills or read the paper or time magazine as we got things together.
Yes...we respected and honored our parents and grandparents
...because thats what we were taught.
Yes...we went to a good school with children of different races.
Yes...we spoke proper english.
Yes...we went to church on Sundays.
And yes, we went back to my grandparents after church for Sunday dinner, with my Aunts, Uncles and cousins.
Yes...my father was the "head of the household".
Yes...my mother supported her man.
Yes...life wasn't perfect but it wasn't complicated either.
Yes...my mother was a teacher, a mother, a beauty and my families heart & soul.
Yes... as I got older these feelings of everyone living the way we lived dimnished.
But I make no apologies
Yes...we watched the Huxtables but we did not think we were the Huxtables.
We're The Léon's
And I make no apologies.
Yes...we met families and people that had different, very different upbringings
So Yes...we understood how blessed we were, my parents made sure they told us that frequently.
But still, I make no apologies.
Yes...my family was a good family and I'm proud of it.
Yes...we grew up with other african american families who were also well employed, mostly married, and raising their children in the same fashion.
Yes...my family loves everyone and doesn't discriminate... so why do you?
Today I stand proud to be a Léon... decendent of a great Haitian family
Today I stand proud to be a Barnes... decendent of a great Black American family
I make no apologies for the great family I was blessed to be born in, we may not have been perfect, in fact far from it but we loved without boundaries.
Yes love is boundless....
So for that fact alone... I make no apologies.

Love & Blessings,
Buttaflibabee

I wrote the poem above after an overwhelming feeling of pride for my family. Over the course of several years I have dated (and even married) men who for whatever reason made me silly for being so close to mine. One individual specifically went as far as making me feel guilty, as though I were to apologize for having such a awesome upbringing. I'm not quite sure why he did that...was I to be ashamed for being born into love?  Those feelings are the reasons why I thank God and every single spirit, angel, and force that ushered me into such an amazing unit. I admit, my family is far from perfect, but then again whose family is? So enjoy life and love everyone around you a little bit more because when it comes down to it we are all family!

- Buttaflibabee