Reflections: Windows To My Soul

by Octavia, Lillian Taylor (Editor)

When I started writing the first edition of my autobiography, explaining at the outset that life was hard, I really had no idea just how hard until I uncovered enough of my history to learn of the enslavement of my ancestors and discover my own beginnings to now write the second edition. I now know some of the reasons why things have been so hard, not only for me, but others like me, and I wanted to make it part of the story, told the way it actually was and just how it started, with the enslavement of my own ancestors. I now have a better understanding of some of the difficulties I experienced that could not be explained but were no fault of my own. Much of our difficulties in this society are a result of the enslavement of the Africans from which many of us descended. I regret many of my life's decisions, but not my education for that is what enabled me to discover things about this society that I need to pass along for whatever they are worth to my children and grandchildren as well as to whomever chooses to read the things I write about. As I said in the first edition of this work, "...in the scheme of things, back in 1981, I was in a panic about where my life was headed. I just wanted to end that phase of it." Back then, I didn't know why I was so depressed. It wasn't until many years later when researching about the fate of those who also had lived in those projects but were able to "get out" with the help of government grants, I learned what it cost me to leave when I did. While I don't regret the advanced education I obtained, I believe my pride and ignorance at the time directly preceding my quest for the education I finally did receive, kept me from having the patience to accept my brother's vehement advice to not quit my job, and, in essence, just wait on God's grace, for the answer was just over the horizon.

393 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 18, 2025