The Forgiven Guardian

A long time ago a child was born into a situation that of course, she didn’t ask for. Meet Brianna. Currently, Brianna is 26 years old, but let's rewind a bit.

As a child, Brianna saw a lot of things wrong with her family. Both of her parents were junkies and other family members had no interest in her well being except her grandmother, Ms. Patricia. Her parents lived in the projects and her grandmother was right across the hall from them. The only reason Ms. Patricia took Brianna under her wings was that she was the only one who had a right mind to operate in. This does not justify the fact that Ms. Patricia was still verbally abusive towards Brianna. As time went on, Brianna always had it in the back of her mind that she was a nobody and would never become a somebody. But that saying that Ms. Patricia said constantly did not stop her from pursuing her dreams.

Fast forward to her teen life, Brianna found a way to start making money but didn’t tell her grandmother.

She said to herself, “ I know she will think this is a dumb process, and it will never be manifested because I am not qualified to do such thing, so I'll just keep it to myself.”

Brianna became a young entrepreneur selling drawings that she has created based on her emotions. She started off at school, went to the community, then saw different opportunities to show her work at events around the school. She was so good at what she did that her counselor brought in different professional artists to see her projects. All of them were astounded and said things like, “This is perfect for my collection,” and“ You really need to consider attending art school.”.

Since Brianna did not live too far from her school, her grandmother started hearing neighbors talk about her work.

Chattering, they said, “ Did you know Ms. Patricia’s granddaughters sell art and are getting many offers from her amazing work from professionals?”

Immediately Ms. Patricia replied with, “ Brianna will not be selling whatever she calls ‘art’ and no opportunities will be put in place. That’s FINAL!!.”

As soon as Brianna got home, The house blew off the roof.

“ What is this art people are speaking of that you are selling and getting deals off of?” , Ms. Patricia said in a bewildered voice.

Brianna remained silent.

“WHAT IS THIS ART PEOPLE ARE SPEAKING ON?” , Ms. Patricia repeated.

Brianna thought to herself what the outcomes would be as for as telling her grandmother about her side hustle and just blurted out, “ I started drawing when I was nine from the pain I have had all of these years. Do you know……”

“Pain? What pain?”, Ms. Patricia interrupted her with a stern voice. “ You don’t know what real pain feels like until you have really been through the struggle of life”, Ms. Patricia continued without letting Brianna respond.

Ms. Patricia has no idea that the words that come out of her mouth affect Brianna and could destroy a weak human being.

Brianna interrupted her and said, “For me the struggle is REAL. Do you have any idea that all my life you have been nothing but negative towards me? It is bad enough that my parents are not in the position to even care and take care of me.”

Ms. Patricia had no words for Brianna and just walked away. A few moments later, after she had time to think, Ms. Patricia came back and said,” I have noticed my pattern in being a non-supportive guardian. As I get older, I am realizing that I never lived the life I wanted and my dreams and aspirations never came true. So I thought that same pattern would go for you if I put it in your mind. With all of that being said, I’m sorry.”

In shock, with her grandmother putting her pride aside Brianna said,” I appreciate everything you have done for me. Giving a place to live, putting food on the table, having a little fun, Apology accepted.”

From that day forward, Brianna and her grandmother moved forward and supported everything each other wanted to do.