Carol Daniel
Part One.
If I could sing, this might be the title of my debut CD. Carol (because I’d do the Cher and Beyonce’ thing and use one name) releases her debut solo CD, Part One. And when music critics ask me why I gave it such a strange title, I would be more than willing to tell them, “I have so many songs in me, that I thought I’d just treat my music like a book and release it in chapters.”
That’s how I’m approaching the remaining six columns for 2007. I know, where did the year go?
Cut one: “I Know Why”
I don’t care what critics say about Tyler Perry’s latest movie, Why Did I Get Married,” but my husband and I loved it. A movie about us that isn’t about rappers and gang violence but an issue we have to talk more about, deceit! It’s about the lies people tell and the problems those lies can cause. It’s also so funny that we have to go back and buy it on CD, because there was so much laughter that we missed many lines! My husband and I walked out of the movie knowing why we got married and are still married.
Cut two: “Home”
My brother-in-law landed in the United States after a second tour of Iraq last weekend. My sister is so thankful he is in one piece. She sent us a thank you card that still brings tears to my eyes. She said to family and friends, “It’s been a really difficult time, and you all really helped me get through it.” To know that she and others like her have gone through such struggle and still had to make breakfast and put kids on the bus and pay the bills and go to work left me breathless and wishing I could live her life for her. But we did the best thing, we just prayed and believed.
Cut three: “Better Than Before”
My sons called me on the phone a few weeks ago, asking me if our six-year-old could open his report card and read it to me. He was expecting straight A’s. I could hear the envelope being ripped open, then a bit of silence and then this mournful, “Awwww.” No straight A’s. Mind you, he’s still working out the notion that hard work equals better returns. He did get nearly a half-dozen A’s and two B’s but he was still disappointed. I told him that we are glad that he is disappointed in those B’s and he needs to work harder to pull those grades up higher.
Cut four: “I Wish”
My 76-year-old father had surgery last month and came through it all with his humor and his health intact. My mother says the surgeon told her, “I wish all my patients were in as good of shape as he is.”
Cut five: “Seconds and Thirds”
After spending three months with a personal trainer, I can honestly say some things have changed. I think a great deal more not only about what I’m going to eat, but why. If you eat when you are bored or upset or anxious, you are an emotional eater and you can change that. I also learned there is an athlete inside of me still. True, that athlete can’t do everything she used to do, but she can still do something. But some things will never change. Thanksgiving dinner at my mother’s house next week will mean seconds and thirds, regardless of my new routine.
Cut Six: “Free Black Man”
That’s what Cliff Franklin, CEO of Fuse Advertising, said when he, his wife and brother were given the 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year award at the St. Louis American Salute to excellence in Business award luncheon earlier this month. I know some were shocked and uncomfortable, while others (like me) felt like we had stepped into a revival. “Go on, preach brother!” Cliff was referring to people like the owner and editor of this very newspaper, Donald M. Suggs, as a “free black man” because he is unafraid to speak his mind.
