iCelebrateU365

  Best Dad Ever My Daddy. That is how I fondly referred to Charlie Lee Works whenever I spoke about him to others. Not "my father." Not "my dad." He was always my Daddy. Whenever I shared one of my big ideas with him, he would smirk, slowly shake his head, look me directly in the eyes, and say, "Girl, you really know how to tell stories." As a child, I took that to mean I had a wild imagination. What I understand now is that my Daddy never dismissed my dreams. He never told me what I couldn't do. He never laughed at my aspirations or made me feel foolish for believing something was possible. Because he believed in me, I learned to believe in myself. I loved my Daddy deeply. Even during the times when we knocked heads, he still walked on water in my eyes. My Daddy worked hard. Very hard. As a child, I never heard him complain about it. I watched him show up, provide, and keep moving forward. I assumed that was simply how life worked. I thought the peace...

A Mother’s Day Reflection for 2026 Mother’s Day has always carried a sacred weight for me. It is one of the days when I am most visibly celebrated. The cards, the calls, the flowers, the memories, the laughter, the table moments, the photographs, the “Happy Mother’s Day” greetings — all of it reminds me that I have been blessed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. But in 2026, I hear Mother’s Day differently. I do not hear it only as a day for mothers. I hear it as a day for lineage. A day for legacy. A day for remembering the women who formed us, covered us, corrected us, listened to us, fed us, prayed for us, and taught us how to stand even when they did not always have the language for what they were giving. I hear it as a daughter. I hear it as a mother. I hear it as a sister in the circle. And I hear it as one of the Daughters of Pearl. [Insert same opening photo from original post] My mother’s name was Pearl, and the older I get, the more I understand that h...