September 12, 2025 • 19 mins
In this intimate and profoundly moving episode of Choosing Joy, host Deborah Joy Winans Williams sits down with her mother, Deborah Kerr Winans, to share a deeply personal story of love, legacy, and faith in the face of Alzheimer’s.
What began as a conversation meant for family became something much more—a testament to the power of memory, God’s grace, and choosing joy in the midst of unimaginable challenges. Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2020, Deborah Kerr Winans may not remember everything, but she never forgets her children, her faith, or the goodness of God.
From growing up in Detroit and becoming the first in her family to earn a college degree to raising four children with fierce love and intention, this conversation honors a mother’s journey, strength, and unwavering belief. It’s a story about what remains even when memory fades—love, faith, and joy.
✨ Whether you’re a caregiver, a daughter, or someone facing hard truths about health and aging, this episode will wrap you in warmth and remind you: You’re not alone. And joy is still possible.
Chapters
00:00 – Why This Conversation Matters
01:00 – Living With Alzheimer's: A Daughter's Reflection
03:00 – How the Diagnosis Changed Everything
05:00 – Sitting in Gratitude, Not Just Grief
07:00 – What My Mom Remembers Most
09:00 – Holding Faith in the Middle of Memory Loss
11:00 – Raising Us with Intention & Love
13:00 – Faith, Detroit, and Family Values
15:00 – A Mother's Unshakable Joy
17:00 – The Gift of Her Legacy
19:00 – Final Reflections, Birthday Song & A Blessing
#DeborahJoyWinansWilliams #ChoosingJoyPodcast #DeborahKerrWinans #AlzheimersAwareness #FaithAndFamily #LegacyOfLove #BlackWomenCaregivers #ChoosingJoyInGrief #MotherDaughterLove #SpiritualHealing
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
When I think of choosing joy, I think of choosing wellness.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Here's a word from our sponsor.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
We know the back to school chaos all too well, schedules, carpools, relearning, algebras.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
It's a lot for you and your crew.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Ali makes wellness an easy and delightful part of your routine.
Need immune support, kids will enjoy. Try kids multiplus Probiotic
is bedtime a struggle? Go with kids, Sleep for gentle support,
Moms support your immune system, nutrition and more with Women's
multi graph. These products at Ali dot com or retailers nationwide.
(00:36):
That's Olly dot com. Hello, my name is Deborah joy Wine.
It's Williams and welcome back to Choosing Joy. Thank you
so much for tuning in. Thank you for all of
your questions, your comments.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
We are reading them, we.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Appreciate them, and we thank you. So today is a
little bit different for me. I have the opportunity to
talk to someone who is very, very nearest and dearest
to me, and it was something I wanted to do
to just have for myself. But as we continue to live,
you realize the things that you go through they are
(01:12):
not meant for you to go through alone, and they
are meant for you to share, not to just have
your village reflect the love that you need, but to
also let people know that they are not alone in
dealing with the things that they are dealing with. And
so I just want to talk a little bit about
what this interview was for me.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
We talked about Alzheimer's.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
So in our community, particularly the Black community, health and
wellness has not always been at the top of the
list the way it should be. And as we get older,
we live and we learn, and if we put it
where it should be, I think that a lot of
the things that happen, the unimaginable things, the things that
(01:57):
you can't really change at this point, to the things
that are not reversible, maybe could have been if we
were able to take care of ourselves just a little
bit more.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
And so.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
I had the opportunity to sit with my mom, Deborah
curR winans There are a lot of debors in my family.
Do not get her twisted. She was married to my
dad for twenty eight years. So she's not the baby
sister Deborah winans Low. She is my mother, Deborahkurr Winance,
And in January twenty twenty, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's,
(02:33):
and it's something that we didn't really fully understand. And
Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia. It involves
memory loss, the loss of cognitive abilities, and.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
That's just kind of what we heard.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
But nothing can prepare you to see the person you love,
the person who raised you, become less and less of
themselves every day. And so I thought, this year, let
me sit down and talk to my mom to see
what she remembers, what she doesn't. I'm grateful because we are.
(03:14):
You know, she sees her children and she knows her children,
and I'm still.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Very grateful for that.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
At a certain point, I began being introduced.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
As her mommy, which that was rough, But then I
was told.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
They sort of revert back to children and they talk about.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
The things that are closest to them.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
And so knowing that I was still in the family,
knowing that I was still someone that she felt was
very close to her heart, kind of allowed me to
move forward, to move past that and to hold it
with a little bit more gratitude than I was in
the beginning.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
There's no real treatment, there is no cure.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Uh, They've come up with things that maybe can slow
the progression down. But we've also learned that at that
point it has to be really just diagnosed. You've got
to be at the very beginning. And unfortunately, as these
new medicines come out, which we are so very grateful for.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
My mom is too far past. And so.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
It's it's hard when it feels like you find out
something late, and then it's kind.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Of blow after blow after blow.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
But I think as we try to continue to choose joy,
we learn to shift our perspective. And me as a daughter,
seeing my mom that hurts, but being able to sit
with her and ask her about what she remembers, what
she thinks about her childhood, what makes her smile. The
(04:57):
things that she has not forgotten are her children and
how much she loves God and how much she knows
God loves her. And so to see the woman that
has raised me walk through so many things in life,
very difficult things, with grace, with love.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
And never forgetting who she belongs to.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
It lets me know that I'm going to be okay
and lets me know that the thing that she put
in me.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Is not going anywhere.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
And so I did this for me and my brothers,
but I want to share it with you as September
is Alzheimer's Awareness Month, and allow you to see the.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Gift that she still is to me and my family.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
And if you are going through it, know that you're
not alone. Know that we still trust God regardless of
what we see. And my mom, deboraher Winans, is in
it and she still trusts God.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
So I just want to say we are here for you.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Continue to be here for us, and continue to show
us how you choose joy in the midst of some
of the hardest things in life. And now I want
you to meet my mom, deborahkur Winings. Where do you
feel like you've had your most joy?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
My kids, how they were raised, they believe in God,
all the things that we talk that's what you guys
do now.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Almost as long as I lived in Detroit, almost cause
it'll be I moved to LA when I was twenty two,
about to be twenty three. I've lived in LA for
nineteen years. But everywhere I go, where are you from Detroit,
Michigan born and raised? Because I think there's something about
(07:14):
being raised in Detroit that has defined me. But with
you growing up in Detroit, you talked about faith. Have
you always had this faith in Jesus or do you
remember a time when you didn't quite have that faith?
Speaker 4 (07:31):
Oh, it might have been.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Yeah, you talked about Pastor Miles when we were growing
up and how that was sort of the moment where
you really found God. Yeah, and that was that before
you went to Michigan State University college. That was before
Do you feel like it was easy to maintain that
(07:54):
level of love and faith in God as you were,
you know, a young woman college and exposed to more things,
different things. Was it difficult for you to maintain that
love and that faith in God.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
I don't think it. I don't think it was hard.
I don't think I was all the.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Time like I should have been, But I was still say, yeah, going.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
So I think it's a journey.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
I think you've Yeah, you've had a really beautiful journey.
I think sometimes, at least for me, people get caught
up in trying to lead this perfect life. But we
are not perfect. No, we are not Jesus. We are
just meant to try to live this life according to
His word as best as we can, and we're going
to stumble and fall. I think it's about getting up,
(08:53):
It's about learning from where you fell. And maybe trying
not to fall there again. But a fall, and I
think accepting and recognizing that you fall will allow you
to look for the best ways to get up and
keep learning and keep moving. So you know, it wasn't
about doing everything perfect in college. You weren't supposed to. No,
(09:17):
do you remember any moments where you were like, I
should not have done that.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
I probably, like at your age at that time, I
didn't take.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Little things for granted.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
When it came to my kids, you can do some things,
but you really can't because I'm not going to allow
you to do certain things.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
We had all.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
The things that we you know, that we believed in
and the things that you can do, not necessarily some
kids coming over.
Speaker 5 (09:57):
But.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, y'all, y'all kept us tight.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
A lot of people told me I was sheltered, but
that maybe you were, and you were like, and it.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Is what it is, what it is, that's how it's going. Yeah, Yeah,
I I that you all, you's everything. Yeah, you you
know you I can't let you just go and let
you go to somebody else's house and I don't even
(10:28):
know them.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
I don't know what they believe in.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
So I just yeah, we didn't spend the night very
much at all.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Not care.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
I can actually count on one hand, and not even
my whole hand, how many times I spent the night.
It was one house and it was Elizabeth Slevin. Yeah,
and it was only twice. And y'all picked us up. Man,
you picked me up at six am. Everybody else was sleep.
They had to come get me out my little what's
(10:58):
the thing The little sleeping bag had a sleeping bag.
I think it was a little mermaid. And I had
to leave while everybody else was sound asleep. But y'all
did not play.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
No, no no.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
When I think of choosing joy, I think of choosing wellness.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Here's a word from our sponsor.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
We know the back to school chaos all too well, schedules, carpools, relearning, algebras.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
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Speaker 1 (11:25):
Ali makes wellness an easy and delightful part of your routine.
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is bedtime a struggle? Go with kids sleep for gentle support,
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Speaker 2 (11:48):
That's O l l y dot com.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
When you had us, mom, because you have you got
four kids. When you had us, do you feel like
or I guess maybe when you started having kids, do
you feel like it shifted your goals and your career or.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Okay, no, no, I still had my job. Yeah, it
was a very good job.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
And on that side of the family, I was the
first Whinings to get a bachelor's degree. But within our family,
you are the first to have a degree. And you're
a registered dietitian. What's funny is, do you do you
remember what you thought you wanted to be before you
became a registered dietitian. Do you remember you you wanted
(12:39):
to be a mortician?
Speaker 4 (12:40):
I did, Yes, you did?
Speaker 3 (12:43):
I did.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
That's an interesting mid What made you want to do that?
Speaker 4 (12:48):
I don't know why I wanted to do that?
Speaker 1 (12:51):
It just seemed interesting.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Yeah, but I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
I don't know, but it was it was strong, Yeah,
and then you ended up going another route. You're a
registered dietitian. You're so smart. You also used to play
first share clarinet, so you just you have so many
gifts and talents. Registered dietitian work for the city work
(13:16):
for the county and raised four kids, three boys and
a girl.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
That was the good fart.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Yeah is that looking back over your life, where do
you feel like you've had your most joy?
Speaker 3 (13:31):
My kids, how they were raised, They believe in God,
all the things that we taught.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
Ah, that's what you guys do now.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Yeah, So you feel like that's your biggest source of joy.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
Because that he gave me to you all.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Yeah, I think you did pretty spectacular.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
I hope, so, I hope. So I was wanting to
be I wanted to put you in this. I wanted
to put you in that. I want you to get
all these things done.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Yea, you know, pageants, tat, jazz, ballet, pomp, pom baton,
horseback riding.
Speaker 5 (14:19):
And and yes it came in handy.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
I got a role where I had to be a
rodeo queen and ride a horse. And they were like, wait,
you know how to ride?
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (14:31):
I do.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
My mama put me in horseback riding lessons in Detroit.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Yep, she found a way.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
You always found a way to do something and to
give us experiences that were probably beyond what the typical
Detroit kid would see. So for that, thank you for
so many things. Mom, I think as we're dealing with
just life, this journey of life and and health and wellness,
(15:02):
and not understanding why sometimes the health fails us. I've
seen you go through many things with your health, particularly
with Alzheimer's, which feels like it takes your memory, and
I see that you recognize that sometimes. But the thing
(15:23):
that you never forget is Jesus and how He saved you,
how he's touched you, how he continues to bless you
in ways that blow your mind. And when I see you,
it's always perspective. It's always not looking at what you
don't have or what you're missing, but realizing that the
(15:48):
King of Kings, the creator of all, is still with
you and it's still blessing you. And to see you
walk this out sometimes frustrating, because that's life, that's the disease,
that what's going on. But to see you still smile
and to see you still have joy, and to choose
to have joy in the midst of all of this,
(16:08):
because a lot of times there's this innate joy that
God gives us that can't nobody take. And then there
are days where it's a little bit hard to find it,
and you still have to choose it, and I see
you choose it mom constantly, and I can't imagine how
difficult that is. But I'm grateful to have to have
had you as a as a guide because you've walked
(16:36):
this road, You've done it, and I know that if
you do it, I can keep going. You've been You've
been an incredible matriarch, an incredible mentor, and just beautiful.
You're just really, really pretty. You're really pretty, but you
shine from the inside out. And so I just wanted
(16:58):
to take time to just talk to you and let
you know I am grateful that you recur.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
That means my mom, That means a lot.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
I love you, Mom. Some people don't get that, even if.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
They lived a good thing, they don't they don't go
back and look, go back and say thank you.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
Yeah, that means a lot.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Well.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
The Bible says that your children are your inheritance, and
you gave us everything. I've never seen someone give so
much to their kids and continue to give. We're not
kids anymore, we're grown. But you still look for ways
to give. You still look for ways to If I
tell you, oh, someone didn't let me do this, you
know I'm I'm forty one. You talk about well, tell
(17:53):
them your mama said, I'm not going to do that.
That's what I'm not gonna do.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
But you do. You you give, and you give.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
And you give, and I just hope that we are
reflecting back to you what you've already given to us
and what you continue to give. And we praise God
for you. So I love you.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
I love you.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Thank you for always choosing joy in the midst of
the hardest times in life and showing us that we
can do the same.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
Love you, love you.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
I do, I do, I do no.
Speaker 5 (18:30):
Mommyday, happyirthday, too.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Heavy day, dear my me, Happy happy birthday. To cook
When I think of choosing joy, I think of choosing wellness.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Here's a word from our sponsor.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
We know the back to school chaos all too well, schedules, carpools, relearning, algebras.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
It's a lot for you and your crew.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Ali makes wellness an easy and delightful part of your routine.
Need immune support, kids will enjoy. Try kids multiplus Probiotic
is bedtime a struggle? Go with kids, Sleep for gentle support,
Moms support your immune system, nutrition and more with Women's
multi graph. These products at Ali dot com or retailers nationwide.
(00:36):
That's Olly dot com. Hello, my name is Deborah joy Wine.
It's Williams and welcome back to Choosing Joy. Thank you
so much for tuning in. Thank you for all of
your questions, your comments.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
We are reading them, we.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Appreciate them, and we thank you. So today is a
little bit different for me. I have the opportunity to
talk to someone who is very, very nearest and dearest
to me, and it was something I wanted to do
to just have for myself. But as we continue to live,
you realize the things that you go through they are
(01:12):
not meant for you to go through alone, and they
are meant for you to share, not to just have
your village reflect the love that you need, but to
also let people know that they are not alone in
dealing with the things that they are dealing with. And
so I just want to talk a little bit about
what this interview was for me.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
We talked about Alzheimer's.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
So in our community, particularly the Black community, health and
wellness has not always been at the top of the
list the way it should be. And as we get older,
we live and we learn, and if we put it
where it should be, I think that a lot of
the things that happen, the unimaginable things, the things that
(01:57):
you can't really change at this point, to the things
that are not reversible, maybe could have been if we
were able to take care of ourselves just a little
bit more.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
And so.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
I had the opportunity to sit with my mom, Deborah
curR winans There are a lot of debors in my family.
Do not get her twisted. She was married to my
dad for twenty eight years. So she's not the baby
sister Deborah winans Low. She is my mother, Deborahkurr Winance,
And in January twenty twenty, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's,
(02:33):
and it's something that we didn't really fully understand. And
Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia. It involves
memory loss, the loss of cognitive abilities, and.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
That's just kind of what we heard.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
But nothing can prepare you to see the person you love,
the person who raised you, become less and less of
themselves every day. And so I thought, this year, let
me sit down and talk to my mom to see
what she remembers, what she doesn't. I'm grateful because we are.
(03:14):
You know, she sees her children and she knows her children,
and I'm still.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Very grateful for that.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
At a certain point, I began being introduced.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
As her mommy, which that was rough, But then I
was told.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
They sort of revert back to children and they talk about.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
The things that are closest to them.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
And so knowing that I was still in the family,
knowing that I was still someone that she felt was
very close to her heart, kind of allowed me to
move forward, to move past that and to hold it
with a little bit more gratitude than I was in
the beginning.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
There's no real treatment, there is no cure.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Uh, They've come up with things that maybe can slow
the progression down. But we've also learned that at that
point it has to be really just diagnosed. You've got
to be at the very beginning. And unfortunately, as these
new medicines come out, which we are so very grateful for.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
My mom is too far past. And so.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
It's it's hard when it feels like you find out
something late, and then it's kind.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Of blow after blow after blow.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
But I think as we try to continue to choose joy,
we learn to shift our perspective. And me as a daughter,
seeing my mom that hurts, but being able to sit
with her and ask her about what she remembers, what
she thinks about her childhood, what makes her smile. The
(04:57):
things that she has not forgotten are her children and
how much she loves God and how much she knows
God loves her. And so to see the woman that
has raised me walk through so many things in life,
very difficult things, with grace, with love.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
And never forgetting who she belongs to.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
It lets me know that I'm going to be okay
and lets me know that the thing that she put
in me.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Is not going anywhere.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
And so I did this for me and my brothers,
but I want to share it with you as September
is Alzheimer's Awareness Month, and allow you to see the.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Gift that she still is to me and my family.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
And if you are going through it, know that you're
not alone. Know that we still trust God regardless of
what we see. And my mom, deboraher Winans, is in
it and she still trusts God.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
So I just want to say we are here for you.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Continue to be here for us, and continue to show
us how you choose joy in the midst of some
of the hardest things in life. And now I want
you to meet my mom, deborahkur Winings. Where do you
feel like you've had your most joy?
Speaker 3 (06:30):
My kids, how they were raised, they believe in God,
all the things that we talk that's what you guys
do now.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Almost as long as I lived in Detroit, almost cause
it'll be I moved to LA when I was twenty two,
about to be twenty three. I've lived in LA for
nineteen years. But everywhere I go, where are you from Detroit,
Michigan born and raised? Because I think there's something about
(07:14):
being raised in Detroit that has defined me. But with
you growing up in Detroit, you talked about faith. Have
you always had this faith in Jesus or do you
remember a time when you didn't quite have that faith?
Speaker 4 (07:31):
Oh, it might have been.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Yeah, you talked about Pastor Miles when we were growing
up and how that was sort of the moment where
you really found God. Yeah, and that was that before
you went to Michigan State University college. That was before
Do you feel like it was easy to maintain that
(07:54):
level of love and faith in God as you were,
you know, a young woman college and exposed to more things,
different things. Was it difficult for you to maintain that
love and that faith in God.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
I don't think it. I don't think it was hard.
I don't think I was all the.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
Time like I should have been, But I was still say, yeah, going.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
So I think it's a journey.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
I think you've Yeah, you've had a really beautiful journey.
I think sometimes, at least for me, people get caught
up in trying to lead this perfect life. But we
are not perfect. No, we are not Jesus. We are
just meant to try to live this life according to
His word as best as we can, and we're going
to stumble and fall. I think it's about getting up,
(08:53):
It's about learning from where you fell. And maybe trying
not to fall there again. But a fall, and I
think accepting and recognizing that you fall will allow you
to look for the best ways to get up and
keep learning and keep moving. So you know, it wasn't
about doing everything perfect in college. You weren't supposed to. No,
(09:17):
do you remember any moments where you were like, I
should not have done that.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
I probably, like at your age at that time, I
didn't take.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
Little things for granted.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
When it came to my kids, you can do some things,
but you really can't because I'm not going to allow
you to do certain things.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
We had all.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
The things that we you know, that we believed in
and the things that you can do, not necessarily some
kids coming over.
Speaker 5 (09:57):
But.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, y'all, y'all kept us tight.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
A lot of people told me I was sheltered, but
that maybe you were, and you were like, and it.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
Is what it is, what it is, that's how it's going. Yeah, Yeah,
I I that you all, you's everything. Yeah, you you
know you I can't let you just go and let
you go to somebody else's house and I don't even
(10:28):
know them.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
I don't know what they believe in.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
So I just yeah, we didn't spend the night very
much at all.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
Not care.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
I can actually count on one hand, and not even
my whole hand, how many times I spent the night.
It was one house and it was Elizabeth Slevin. Yeah,
and it was only twice. And y'all picked us up. Man,
you picked me up at six am. Everybody else was sleep.
They had to come get me out my little what's
(10:58):
the thing The little sleeping bag had a sleeping bag.
I think it was a little mermaid. And I had
to leave while everybody else was sound asleep. But y'all
did not play.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
No, no no.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
When I think of choosing joy, I think of choosing wellness.
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Speaker 2 (11:48):
That's O l l y dot com.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
When you had us, mom, because you have you got
four kids. When you had us, do you feel like
or I guess maybe when you started having kids, do
you feel like it shifted your goals and your career or.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Okay, no, no, I still had my job. Yeah, it
was a very good job.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
And on that side of the family, I was the
first Whinings to get a bachelor's degree. But within our family,
you are the first to have a degree. And you're
a registered dietitian. What's funny is, do you do you
remember what you thought you wanted to be before you
became a registered dietitian. Do you remember you you wanted
(12:39):
to be a mortician?
Speaker 4 (12:40):
I did, Yes, you did?
Speaker 3 (12:43):
I did.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
That's an interesting mid What made you want to do that?
Speaker 4 (12:48):
I don't know why I wanted to do that?
Speaker 1 (12:51):
It just seemed interesting.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Yeah, but I don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
I don't know, but it was it was strong, Yeah,
and then you ended up going another route. You're a
registered dietitian. You're so smart. You also used to play
first share clarinet, so you just you have so many
gifts and talents. Registered dietitian work for the city work
(13:16):
for the county and raised four kids, three boys and
a girl.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
That was the good fart.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Yeah is that looking back over your life, where do
you feel like you've had your most joy?
Speaker 3 (13:31):
My kids, how they were raised, They believe in God,
all the things that we taught.
Speaker 4 (13:41):
Ah, that's what you guys do now.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Yeah, So you feel like that's your biggest source of joy.
Speaker 4 (13:52):
Because that he gave me to you all.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Yeah, I think you did pretty spectacular.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
I hope, so, I hope. So I was wanting to
be I wanted to put you in this. I wanted
to put you in that. I want you to get
all these things done.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Yea, you know, pageants, tat, jazz, ballet, pomp, pom baton,
horseback riding.
Speaker 5 (14:19):
And and yes it came in handy.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
I got a role where I had to be a
rodeo queen and ride a horse. And they were like, wait,
you know how to ride?
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Yes?
Speaker 4 (14:31):
I do.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
My mama put me in horseback riding lessons in Detroit.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Yep, she found a way.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
You always found a way to do something and to
give us experiences that were probably beyond what the typical
Detroit kid would see. So for that, thank you for
so many things. Mom, I think as we're dealing with
just life, this journey of life and and health and wellness,
(15:02):
and not understanding why sometimes the health fails us. I've
seen you go through many things with your health, particularly
with Alzheimer's, which feels like it takes your memory, and
I see that you recognize that sometimes. But the thing
(15:23):
that you never forget is Jesus and how He saved you,
how he's touched you, how he continues to bless you
in ways that blow your mind. And when I see you,
it's always perspective. It's always not looking at what you
don't have or what you're missing, but realizing that the
(15:48):
King of Kings, the creator of all, is still with
you and it's still blessing you. And to see you
walk this out sometimes frustrating, because that's life, that's the disease,
that what's going on. But to see you still smile
and to see you still have joy, and to choose
to have joy in the midst of all of this,
(16:08):
because a lot of times there's this innate joy that
God gives us that can't nobody take. And then there
are days where it's a little bit hard to find it,
and you still have to choose it, and I see
you choose it mom constantly, and I can't imagine how
difficult that is. But I'm grateful to have to have
had you as a as a guide because you've walked
(16:36):
this road, You've done it, and I know that if
you do it, I can keep going. You've been You've
been an incredible matriarch, an incredible mentor, and just beautiful.
You're just really, really pretty. You're really pretty, but you
shine from the inside out. And so I just wanted
(16:58):
to take time to just talk to you and let
you know I am grateful that you recur.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
That means my mom, That means a lot.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
I love you, Mom. Some people don't get that, even if.
Speaker 3 (17:16):
They lived a good thing, they don't they don't go
back and look, go back and say thank you.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
Yeah, that means a lot.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Well.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
The Bible says that your children are your inheritance, and
you gave us everything. I've never seen someone give so
much to their kids and continue to give. We're not
kids anymore, we're grown. But you still look for ways
to give. You still look for ways to If I
tell you, oh, someone didn't let me do this, you
know I'm I'm forty one. You talk about well, tell
(17:53):
them your mama said, I'm not going to do that.
That's what I'm not gonna do.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
But you do. You you give, and you give.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
And you give, and I just hope that we are
reflecting back to you what you've already given to us
and what you continue to give. And we praise God
for you. So I love you.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
I love you.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Thank you for always choosing joy in the midst of
the hardest times in life and showing us that we
can do the same.
Speaker 4 (18:23):
Love you, love you.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
I do, I do, I do no.
Speaker 5 (18:30):
Mommyday, happyirthday, too.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Heavy day, dear my me, Happy happy birthday. To cook
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