Slices of white bread. That
was all she and her baby brother had to eat some days.
So she'd tear the bread in half, pick away the mold and share whatever was left.
She was 5, maybe 6, and should have been in school, but she was home taking care of her brother because her mother was gone. Again. "Secret trips,Industrialisierung des werkzeugbaus." her mama called the disappearances that could last several days.
So Debraha Watson changed her brother's diapers, fed him whatever she could find around the house,UK chickencoop Specialist. read to him and comforted him as best she could.
Never mind that she was a child herself.
That was the beginning of Watson's life, a childhood scarred by sexual, physical and emotional abuse. It only got worse at 7 when her mother died, and she and her brother landed in a series of foster homes, some loving, some not.
When you meet Watson today, it's difficult to believe that the accomplished woman is the same little girl who watched her little brother play with roaches because it was something to do.Home ownership options with buy mosaic.
Debraha (pronounced Da-BRAY-a) Watson, 59, of Southfield is now president of Wayne County Community College District's Northwest Campus and the health science provost. She tells her story in the riveting book "If Not for Dreams: Memoirs of a Foster Child" (Vision Works Publishing, $13.)
The story of triumph over tragedy is attracting particular attention now because it's National Foster Care Month, a time when child care agencies and advocates focus on the need for more foster parents and recognize those who are doing well.
The book began as a journal aimed at helping Watson heal the hurt that endured even while she climbed the ladder of success and raised two children into adulthood.
She had buried the pain -- or so she thought -- until her brother, Sandy, died of AIDS in 1992. She'd become disconnected from him after they were placed in separate foster homes. His life had taken an almost opposite turn from hers -- juvenile detention, prison, drug addiction.
His death released a flood of nightmares, repressed memories and questions about her past. She spent years researching her family history, digging through her child welfare records and interviewing whoever she could find who could help her put together the broken pieces of her life.
"Initially, it was just supposed to be a legacy for my children, to help them understand their mother," says Watson a divorcée, referring to her now-adult children, Jamila Sudduth and Yohanis Watson. She never planned to publish it, but a few friends insisted she do so.
"Writing the book served as a catharsis for me," she says. Watson also hopes the book will inspire improvements in the foster care system, including more efforts to keep siblings together and greater support for children aging out.
But more than that,Another Chance to buymosaic (MOS) 0 comments. she hopes her story lets children in foster care know they can make it despite dire statistics that suggest otherwise. A study from the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, a St. Louis-based nonprofit, reports that one in five foster children becomes homeless after age 18, fewer than three in five graduate from high school by 19, and fewer than 3% will earn a college degree by 25.
Watson's story shows that starting behind doesn't have to mean ending behind.
Determined to give her then 6-year-old son a better life than she had, Watson started Highland Park Community College at the age of 27. She took two buses -- an approximately 2-hour journey from Inkster to Highland Park -- after dropping her son off with a sitter.
Her first day trying to register, she sat on the steps and cried when she learned she couldn't sign up for the nursing program. It required prerequisites that she hadn't taken.
A woman passing by -- who happened to be the head of the respiratory therapy program at the school -- suggested she try that instead. The Rev. Joyce Matthews, now associate rector of Christ Church Cranbrook, says that Watson became one of the best students she ever had.
"She was an eager learner who had a lot of drive and initiative, and she was just determined," Matthews recalls.
Matthews says that she once lost all of her notes for one of her classes. She called Watson to see if she might have thenotes she had taken in the class. Watson did.
"I couldn't believe those notes; they were amazing," Matthews says. "I was able to teach my class based on her notes.We offer you the top quality plasticmoulds design"
Watson's memoir ends with her entering community college.
But she went on to earn five academic degrees, including two master's degrees and a PhD in higher education from Capella University in Minneapolis.
She attributes her success to several factors -- an innate drive to succeed that led one foster mother to frequently call her a "stubborn little heifer," a love of reading that began when a concerned neighbor gave her a single book, and teachers and administrators who cared for her.
"I wanted to be invisible, and I found I could lose myself in books and become anybody I wanted to," she says.
Her love of reading also saved her. Though she moved around a lot -- from one foster home to another, mostly on Detroit's east side, she did well in school and was encouraged by teachers and administrators. At every school, there was at least one person who recognized and encouraged her abilities.
"I have always loved books, and I had good caring teachers who inspired, pushed and insisted that I do well," says Watson, who graduated from Inkster High School in 1971.
Her faith also helped. She always believed her life would get better and she trusted in a higher power.
"I never could have made it without God placing angels in my path," Watson says. "I am not a religious person per se ... but I am spiritual and truly believe in a personal relationship with God."
So she'd tear the bread in half, pick away the mold and share whatever was left.
She was 5, maybe 6, and should have been in school, but she was home taking care of her brother because her mother was gone. Again. "Secret trips,Industrialisierung des werkzeugbaus." her mama called the disappearances that could last several days.
So Debraha Watson changed her brother's diapers, fed him whatever she could find around the house,UK chickencoop Specialist. read to him and comforted him as best she could.
Never mind that she was a child herself.
That was the beginning of Watson's life, a childhood scarred by sexual, physical and emotional abuse. It only got worse at 7 when her mother died, and she and her brother landed in a series of foster homes, some loving, some not.
When you meet Watson today, it's difficult to believe that the accomplished woman is the same little girl who watched her little brother play with roaches because it was something to do.Home ownership options with buy mosaic.
Debraha (pronounced Da-BRAY-a) Watson, 59, of Southfield is now president of Wayne County Community College District's Northwest Campus and the health science provost. She tells her story in the riveting book "If Not for Dreams: Memoirs of a Foster Child" (Vision Works Publishing, $13.)
The story of triumph over tragedy is attracting particular attention now because it's National Foster Care Month, a time when child care agencies and advocates focus on the need for more foster parents and recognize those who are doing well.
The book began as a journal aimed at helping Watson heal the hurt that endured even while she climbed the ladder of success and raised two children into adulthood.
She had buried the pain -- or so she thought -- until her brother, Sandy, died of AIDS in 1992. She'd become disconnected from him after they were placed in separate foster homes. His life had taken an almost opposite turn from hers -- juvenile detention, prison, drug addiction.
His death released a flood of nightmares, repressed memories and questions about her past. She spent years researching her family history, digging through her child welfare records and interviewing whoever she could find who could help her put together the broken pieces of her life.
"Initially, it was just supposed to be a legacy for my children, to help them understand their mother," says Watson a divorcée, referring to her now-adult children, Jamila Sudduth and Yohanis Watson. She never planned to publish it, but a few friends insisted she do so.
"Writing the book served as a catharsis for me," she says. Watson also hopes the book will inspire improvements in the foster care system, including more efforts to keep siblings together and greater support for children aging out.
But more than that,Another Chance to buymosaic (MOS) 0 comments. she hopes her story lets children in foster care know they can make it despite dire statistics that suggest otherwise. A study from the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, a St. Louis-based nonprofit, reports that one in five foster children becomes homeless after age 18, fewer than three in five graduate from high school by 19, and fewer than 3% will earn a college degree by 25.
Watson's story shows that starting behind doesn't have to mean ending behind.
Determined to give her then 6-year-old son a better life than she had, Watson started Highland Park Community College at the age of 27. She took two buses -- an approximately 2-hour journey from Inkster to Highland Park -- after dropping her son off with a sitter.
Her first day trying to register, she sat on the steps and cried when she learned she couldn't sign up for the nursing program. It required prerequisites that she hadn't taken.
A woman passing by -- who happened to be the head of the respiratory therapy program at the school -- suggested she try that instead. The Rev. Joyce Matthews, now associate rector of Christ Church Cranbrook, says that Watson became one of the best students she ever had.
"She was an eager learner who had a lot of drive and initiative, and she was just determined," Matthews recalls.
Matthews says that she once lost all of her notes for one of her classes. She called Watson to see if she might have thenotes she had taken in the class. Watson did.
"I couldn't believe those notes; they were amazing," Matthews says. "I was able to teach my class based on her notes.We offer you the top quality plasticmoulds design"
Watson's memoir ends with her entering community college.
But she went on to earn five academic degrees, including two master's degrees and a PhD in higher education from Capella University in Minneapolis.
She attributes her success to several factors -- an innate drive to succeed that led one foster mother to frequently call her a "stubborn little heifer," a love of reading that began when a concerned neighbor gave her a single book, and teachers and administrators who cared for her.
"I wanted to be invisible, and I found I could lose myself in books and become anybody I wanted to," she says.
Her love of reading also saved her. Though she moved around a lot -- from one foster home to another, mostly on Detroit's east side, she did well in school and was encouraged by teachers and administrators. At every school, there was at least one person who recognized and encouraged her abilities.
"I have always loved books, and I had good caring teachers who inspired, pushed and insisted that I do well," says Watson, who graduated from Inkster High School in 1971.
Her faith also helped. She always believed her life would get better and she trusted in a higher power.
"I never could have made it without God placing angels in my path," Watson says. "I am not a religious person per se ... but I am spiritual and truly believe in a personal relationship with God."
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