Our Story" being estranged from my own mother at a very young age. It was not until I birthed my own daughter that I later learned the importance of developing a close bond with my daughter. 

Being my mother's only child and her suffering from mental illness, I was not yet equipped emotionally to understand the depth of her illness & its tole it would take on me from her absence most of my life.

It took some years for me to forgive & to heal from the trauma caused by my mother's illness. Even writing this has brought up some sad emotions.

Though I know now it was not her fault and not in her control I still longed to have that relationship with my mother. 

My mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia, so you can only imagine that the disease had taken its anger out on me at times.

With the very few encounters I had with my mom growing up, she still managed to leave me with some good memories of her.

My mom was an educated woman by the name of Elois Kinnon.

A woman who was known to be a pro- black activist in the early 60's & 70's in New York.

She later graduated from Columbia School of Arts in Chicago IL where she is a known black and white photographer. 

Some of her work has been on exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago, where I was raised.  

As a young mother myself, I had my daughter at 19 years old. I was blessed to have had her father and his family take a big role in helping me raise her.

With very little parenting role models as I had not known my father until recent, I made poor choices with men, money and myself. 

Early on I know the one thing that saved me and kept me somewhat Sain was my spiritual relationship with source.  

I grew to understand life from a spiritual perspective than one of a physical nature. 

This connecting I had with this invisible loving and universal force I choose to call the Creator protected and guided me though out my youth and still today. 

The best part is that from my unique story, I vowed to be a parent who was present and not absent in all three of my children's lives. 

Of course, it came with its rights, wrongs & indifferences.  

But somehow, I was granted this inner gift of forgiveness the ability to be grateful and more importantly keep the radiant smile that I got from my mother along with many other talents she passed onto me.

I am now able to share my story with you and which is why I want to do my part with bridging and healing the relationships of mothers and daughters all across the world. 

Let's, learn from each other, lets heal and lets pass the torch unto our daughters for generations to come.