Educated in Brooklyn, NY and selected to be amongst the first African American students to attend Erasmus Hall High School, I left Erasmus an advocate for public speaking, and wound up in Clara Barton High School. I graduated from Clara Barton with honors in English, and from my youth through my adult life, I enjoyed and was honored for motivational and inspirational speaking.

My Civil Fights activities of marching, freedom riding, protesting, voter registration, grass-roots style community    organization, and loving my fellow humankind enough to go out on the line for any cause worth fighting for— which was a whole lot— created the foundation for the rest of my life.

I took a little break from rabble rousing and went to Kingsborough Community College and started all over again, becoming a funding committee member for the Black Student Union called IBM—Independent Black Movement.  I continued on to York College, graduating with a double   Bachelor’s Degree and finished with a Master’s Degree in Social Work.

In between all that action, I got married on more than one   occasion.  God graced me with four children and many adopted children.

I always had to work, so my career began at a young age at the Ideal Toy Corporation, and from there I went on to nursing, public service, child abuse prevention, as an inspector general with the NYC Housing Authority, homeless service, state investigation, and community affairs.

Writing was my specialty but I also loved to sing, dance and praise God. I leave this sweet cup of life filled with happiness, joy, and those of you who know me know that I sometimes told things like I saw and felt them. Yet all was done with a love and passion for God’s word and teaching and walking by faith, not by sight.

Memories are not few and far between for me, and I will always have the memories of sharing special moments with my children, such as watching all four seasons while driving through prospect park, slow walks along many different shores and watching chickens defy their natural nature and fly towards the second floor landing to claim food, and just being a spiritual guide for my friends.

I enjoyed my time you and all those that I came into contact with for a long time or a short time. I’m sorry if I offended anyone. If I made you laugh, I’m glad. If you got both I’m glad to say you got to know me. Whatever the encounter—count it all joy! I’m celebrating as I leave, so please you do so too. My precious   children-- son Samuel; daughters Maurine, Regina, and Julia;  son-in-law Pierre; grandchildren Sierra, Josef, Chelsey, Elizabeth, Paris, Tykeisha, Malcolm, and Shemecka; adopted children; brother Samuel and sisters Elsa and Erna and a host of nieces and nephews, cousins, friends, pals, associates, and buddies—please don’t mourn me, I am happy and where I want to be.

My life may have been filled at times with sorrow and pain, but I knew that eventually that this would be to my ultimate gain. I’m in heaven now amongst the clouds, always watching over you, never again will I frown. So keep these words in mind and always smile, knowing that in time you’ll join me on heaven’s bountiful food line.

With love, always and forever,
Frances
Letting Go
Look up towards the sky and no more tears will you cry.
By RMK