“One of the happiest moments of my life is when I became a mother. I always wanted a child and at one point, all of my friends were having kids and I had just given up hope on being a mother because it took me forever. I had my son in 2015 and I was excited, even when I wanted a girl. I have two boys, now.

It changed my life a lot. Right now, I’m waiting on my son to get off the bus. Being a single mother is one of the toughest things that I go through. They have the same father but he’s really not active in their life. I pray all the time and I’ve been making it. My oldest is in pre-k and this one is three months. I just stay prayed up.

I was taken away from my mother when I was six or seven, after being molested. I remember that. I went into foster care and my aunt’s baby dad’s mother did foster care at the time. Her name is Ms. Jewel and she took us in. I still see her at church, cause she actually goes to St. Stephen, which is where I go. That was a blessing instead of my sister and I getting split up.

In foster care, we were happy to still be in Louisville and still being able to see my parents. The sad part was when my mama would come to visit and she would have to leave. I remember looking out the window and crying, as she was leaving, wanting to go with her. Overall, I didn’t stay long because my granny, who is my dad’s mother, ended up getting custody of me and that’s who raised me to be who I am today.

Today, my granny helps me when I go to work. My kids don’t have to go to daycare because she watches them. I have a support system and that’s my granny. For real, most of these people in Lousiville only have their grannies and I’m blessed to have mine.

I often think about how life would have been if I had my mother and her having it together and not doing drugs. I think about her actually being there when I would get home from school. That’s on my mind all the time.

I really am trying to be the best mom that I can be. I don’t ever want to lose my kids. With that being said, I try to do right by them and, like I said, stay prayed up.

Right now, I’m just wanting a good-paying job. I have two jobs right now but I want one good one with a good 401k and benefits. You know, basically, I want some good benefits for me and my kids. I had interviews with GE and Ford and didn’t get those jobs. I also had one with Spectrum and I didn’t get that one because I didn’t have the experience. It’s hard but I’m not giving up. I’m actually going to try for Humana because I heard they were about to start hiring.

For real, at the end of the day, God keeps me going. I got my faith. My granny raised me, so I’ve always been spiritual and I know that God makes things possible. That keeps me motivated and focused. My kids also keep me motivated. Their beautiful smiles keep me here.

I wanna tell our women that our world would be a better place if we knew our worth and stand up tall and never settle for less. If a man cheats, let it go! There’s a lot of women that belittle themselves for drugs and men and I feel like we should pray every day, stay strong for our babies, and put our kids first. Let God lead, not a man. Don’t let a man bring you down and manipulate you. We are queens! Know your worth and take care of our kids. Don’t do it just for social media but in real life. Out the mud, do whatever you gotta do for your kids and put them first. We should get ahold of ourselves and put ourselves and God first and everything will prosper.

I know I went through trials and tribulations and I know there are people that went through worse. I experienced a lot of things that showed me that some things aren’t worth it and that we should have peace and happiness. The only way to that is by staying ten toes down and prayer. If you have kids, handle your business and everything else will fall in place. That’s how I feel.” - Linda and her son, Elijah in Park DuValle