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I was born on November 2, 1984. My parents are Mary Calhoun and Nathan Jerkins. I went to live with my grandparents (Mattie Calhoun and Hampton Calhoun) in 1988 when I was three years old. My grandparents lived in the city of Absanie. My parents were convicted of armed robbery and murder for robbing a bank in the city of Donnet. They both received the maximum sentence allowed by the law.
I meet Unice Lacey a few months after I began to live with my grandparents. My grandparents lived on the same street as Unice's family. She lived four houses down from us. My grandmother asked her mother if I could come over and play with Unice one day. We have been best friends every since. Unice's has been a great part of my life. She is like my sister. Her family accepted me as if I was one of the family. I would really needed the Lacey's in my life once I began to grow up.
My grandparents were not wealthy, but they had enough to take care of themselves and me. My grandfather was a carpenter who was part owner of a carpentry shop. He liked to build shelves, bookcases, desks, and bed frames. My grandmother cooked special order desserts for people in the city of Absanie. I had everything that I needed. Sometimes I got some of the things that I wanted. I enjoyed life living with my grandparents
My grandmother always referred to me as Granny's Angel. That's what she called me most of the time. I loved my grandmother dearly. She was a great praying woman of God. She raised me to be a prayer warrior as well.
My life took a drastic turn in 1999. My grandmother died on June 16, 1999. I took my grandmother's death very hard. I became depressed. I stopped eating. I lost 23 pounds, going from 128 ponds to 105 pounds. My grandfather was very worried about me. During this time, Unice Lacey and Ronda Green moved into the house with my grandfather and I to help my grandfather watch me. I took sick on July 22nd, one month after we buried my grandmother. I was rushed to the hospital. I was very dehydrated and I had to be feed intravenously. My doctor put me on suicide watch. I was in the hospital for 2 weeks.
On July 26th, I was visited by my grandmother in a dream. She came to me in the dream and told me, "I did not raise you to act like this. You know what ever you are going through, God can see you through it. God saw fit to call me home to be with Him. You know that you are not alone. Your grandfather and your friends are still here with you. You can live without me being by your side. You can do all things through Christ that strengthens you. I will always be in your heart. You will always be GRANNY'S ANGEL." She hugged me in the dream. No one ever believes me when I tell them this, but I felt my grandmother's hug that night. As I slept that night, I heard my grandmother singing to me.
That week I got much better. I gained 15 pounds in 10 days. I don't know how I did it, but I did. The doctors let me go two and a half weeks after I was admitted to the hospital.
Unice asked me what happened to me in the hospital. It was a week later before I could even talk about the dream and what my grandmother had said to me. When I finally told her, she didn't really believe me, but she said that whatever had happened helped me get better.
Sometimes now, I still think about my grandmother and I get sad. Whenever I start to get sad, I hear my grandmother singing to me. She is always reminding me, "You will always be GRANNY'S ANGEL.
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