“She was so embarrassed when I would pick her up from school in my ‘94 Mazda,” Leona reminisced about her daughter. She talked about her 4 daughters, 6 grandchildren, and 4 sisters with great pride and love. “One time someone mistook my sister for my daughter, and I said, ‘That ain’t my daughter! That’s my sister!’”
Leona’s sweet, sassy spirit infests all she encounters. Anytime I see her she offers me a cracker or cookie from her bag of goodies. On her corner near the local library she feeds the lone pudgy squirrel and the various house sparrows that hop around, she affectionately named one Brittany. Leona recounted a time when she and her daughters carried 20 loaves of bread to the Potomac, and a flock of hungry seagulls engulfed them! In her younger years, Leona volunteered for an organization that fed the elderly in her neighborhood. She feeds all around her.
“If I could tell the world anything about myself, it would be that I am blessed to have known all sorts of people. The good ones, and the not so good ones. They have made me who I am. They have made my life richer.”
Guest Writer: Jaime Colman
Jaime Colman does advocacy work and event planning for the National Alliance to End Homelessness. She graduated from Houghton College with honors in Intercultural Studies and Sociology. Prior to working at the Alliance, Jaime interned with World Vision International. Her interests include the social experience of persons with disabilities in developing countries, international development, and homelessness. Jaime is an avid birder and sojourner of faith.