Lydia Beard

My journey as a single-parent started when my children were just 2 and 3 years old., Abigail who is now a junior at Wooster College and Jonathan, who is a freshman at Notre Dame College.

There are so many stories, adventures, difficulties, failures, achievements, challenges and triumphs and it’s been more rewarding than it has been challenging. It brought me to very low valleys filled with doubt and guilt. As I looked up from those valleys, I saw peaks of promise filled with happy memories and a hope for a great future. I know that God had somehow blessed me and given me the strength to accomplish raising these two children. I am the ninth child of Jerry and Mary Worford, both of whom are now deceased. They were not the typical parents, my father had a master’s degree and my mother, was a fellow classmate of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, had a bachelor’s degree. The three things they stressed were Christian values, education and work ethic.

It is hard to describe the life of a single parent in America, especially one of color. Being a person of color is challenging in itself.

Being a single parent motivated me perhaps more than anything else in life. I wanted to make sure that the children were in a good school district, that they had traveled, and most of all, to attempt to model for my children those values my parents collectively instilled in me. I was determined for them to have a good life and to succeed academically. I wanted to raise children who were just as kind and thoughtful as they were intelligent. I feel that I accomplished this as I went back to school to earn another degree, worked several jobs, dealt with numerous insecurities and fought fatigue. When I look back on the limited time and income, I know that neither ever keeps one from succeeding. My children are now both in college. The journey is not over. . .