The Overcomers' Anthology: Volume One
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About this ebook
Tearing down facades to expose a life of unspeakable strength, faith and courage, these overcomers make their debut by sharing riveting details of their life’s stories. Transparent and empowering, The Overcomers’ Anthology is the first volume of stories written to encourage you to ascend your current limitations, recognize your power and realize that you, too, can be an overcomer!
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The Overcomers' Anthology - Dr. De'Andrea Matthews
THE OVERCOMERS’
ANTHOLOGY
Volume One
__________
Dr. De’Andrea Matthews, Managing Editor
Aisha Dennis, Brian A. Matthews,
Anita F. Morgan and Denise Crumbey,
Co-Authors
The Overcomers’ Anthology
Copyright © 2020 by Dr. De’Andrea Matthews
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.
Edited by Amber N. Williams, Align Editorial www.aligneditorial.com
Published by:
Claire Aldin Publications
P.O. Box 453
Southfield, MI 48037
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020931111
ISBN: 978-1734746921 (eBook)
Printed in the United States of America
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
1 No Experience is Ever Wasted: Overcoming a Tumultuous Childhood by Aisha Dennis
2 His Grace Alone by Anita F. Morgan
3 Overcoming Resentment toward Your Mother by Brian A. Matthews
4 The Battle of the Mind by Denise Crumbey
5 Finding Your Authentic Voice by Dr. De’Andrea Matthews
INTRODUCTION
The Overcomers’ Anthology was birthed as I reflected on the things that should have broken me or sent me to an institution in a jacket that made me hug myself. I knew that as I looked over my own life, I was not alone. There are so many overcomers that you and I interact with on a daily basis – those you pass in the street, those you say hello to on the job, and even those in your own homes. Those same people have no idea the invisible badges of honor that you wear. This anthology is a safe space to be able to share those stories.
On the pages that follow, you will read the brave stories of authors who are opening the vault to their life stories for the first time. Being transparent as a writer means the author lets you see into their life. Being vulnerable is when the author allows you to experience what they went through from a first-person perspective. Keep these things in mind as you explore their hidden shame, see behind the mask and let the spirit of an overcomer rise from the pages.
~Dr. De’Andrea Matthews
Founder and CEO
Claire Aldin Publications
CHAPTER ONE
No Experience Is Ever Wasted:
Overcoming a Tumultuous Childhood
By Aisha Dennis
Her name was Marie. She was born July of 1938. She was my mother and a housewife of nine children. She loved to cook, sell dinners every Friday while she played cards—pitty-pat to be exact—and she loved to listen to The O’Jays’ Living for the Weekend
! Like most southerners, she believed in old wives tales, traditions, and superstitions. She had a strong dislike for doctors and hospitals. While most people remember certain quirks or habits about their mother, I don’t have said memories or recall those experiences. Truth be told, most of what I know of my mother comes from secondhand information. Unfortunately, the majority of what I have come to know about my mother were all pictures painted through the eyes of someone else.
My name is Aisha. I can recall small things about my mother like her thick, coarse hair (which I inherited) or her beautiful brown skin. See, she passed away when I was only four years old. At some point in her life, she developed cervical cancer which eventually spread throughout her entire body. The cancer shut down her kidneys and other bodily functions. She was eventually placed on dialysis but ended up on life support. She died in December of 1984 at the age of 43! I can’t say I recall her or how difficult life was at that time in our lives as a family. I just knew that things had changed and she wasn’t around anymore. It’s like that part of my life is a total blur. Like most big sisters, I imagine my sisters tried to fill her shoes from time to time. At that time, my siblings ranged in age from 6-26 years of age. I recall one of my older sisters taking me shopping and doing girly things, but life as we had come to know it would soon shift again when our father became sick.
His name was Louis. He was born in November of 1915. I learned that he was a man of little education but lots of heart and grit! I learned that he dropped out of school at a very young age but began doing odds and ends jobs until he was of age to obtain a legitimate job. He began working in a factory. As an adult, a steel factory would be where he would work for most of his life until health issues, along with grieving the loss of our mother, would force him into early retirement. My dad suffered from what are known as transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) or mini strokes which later on transitioned into a massive stroke. The massive stroke left him brain dead and on life support, as well. I was told many decisions had to be made, and our family was at odds on what to do. Eventually, he was taken off life support.
Although I was only seven years old when he passed away, I remember his flannel shirt, his glasses, getting ice cream from the ice cream truck, and one Christmas when my brother got a Pittsburgh Steelers jacket and I received a Dallas Cowboys jacket. I remember he smoked a pipe sometimes, but I