A Brighter Day (PB) (2017)

My name is Linda Lawson, I was born with the name of Linder Laverne Kizee on June 27, 1953 in Blairs Virginia to an uneducated sharecropper and housewife. We were dirt poor and lived off the land. I had four brothers and two sisters. In 1958, we abruptly left Virginia and moved to New Jersey with nothing but the clothes on our backs. For years I've searched for the answer to this mystery, but to no avail. It took a lot of strength and courage to endure life's hardships and difficult circumstances. Life has been like a rocky roller coaster ride, with its unexpected turns, bumps, ups and downs. Through life's experiences, I found out that life is what you make of it. You can either bear down beneath the load or you can stand up, fight and be a survivor. That's exactly what I chose to do - fight! When I was six years old I connected with God and He never left me. He was with me through the hard times, the dysfunction and life's lows. Even though my family was dysfunctional, I decided that I would be different. I learned that you can be born into dysfunction, but you don't have to become it. My faith in God gave me the courage to fight and win.