A Taste of Flava – 9AM

What We Come From… and What We Carry Forward

This morning started with my body talking back to me.

My hips hurting… my butt hurting… that kind of pain that makes you slow down whether you want to or not.

So I did what I’ve been learning to do…

I paused.

Turned the heat on. Sat still. Let my body speak.

And then my mind started going somewhere deeper.

I found myself thinking about my family.

About patterns.

About where things come from.

My German grandmother… she was mean.

She didn’t accept us because our father was Japanese.

I remember calling her one time for my mom and saying,

“Hi grandma…”

And she said,

“Who is this?”

I was the only granddaughter.

That moment stayed with me.

My mother… she didn’t talk about her German side at all.

Her mom would speak German to her…

and my mom would answer in English.

That tells you everything without saying much.

My mom was raised Catholic.

Her mother wanted her to work in a factory.

But my mom wanted more.

She left home after graduation, went to university in Philadelphia, and became Baptist.

She chose a different life.

My parents met in Kansas.

My dad was becoming a minister.

My mom was a missionary.

They didn’t just meet…

they met in purpose.

I’ve been thinking about my brother too.

Some of the hardness I felt growing up.

And I started wondering…

does something run in our family?

Is it personality?

Is it environment?

Is it something deeper?

And then I realized something this morning…

I don’t just come from hardness.

I also come from love.

My Japanese grandmother, Grandma Matsu…

She was the best.

We loved each other so much.

She lived with us most of my life and passed in our home when I was 16.

That kind of love stays with you.

That kind of love becomes part of who you are.

So now I sit here… at 65…

With a body that doesn’t always cooperate

and a mind that is connecting pieces I never had words for before.

And I’m realizing this:

We all come from something.

Some of it is hard.

Some of it is confusing.

Some of it leaves questions we may never fully answer.

But if we’re lucky…

We also come from love.

And that love?

That’s what we carry forward.

This morning I’m choosing to carry that.

Even with my hips hurting.

Even with my body slowing me down.

I’m still here.

Still aware.

Still learning.

Still loving.

And maybe that’s the real legacy.

A Touch of Flava

With Lady Flava