A Night of Stars and Snow

For generations in my family the pain of one generation was handed down to the next. It began in the death and smoke of Vicksburg when my grandfather died, leaving his family alone. It was handed down to my grandmother. In rage and grief over the loss of her husband she beat down my father and left him with the scars he handed down to me and my two brothers. My firstborn child had the scars of Vicksburg. I want to explain it all to myself and my children. I want to share my story with those young people who were born into violence and now are trying to live in their own family without acting out of the violence they knew. This is a story in every person's life. This is my story, my children's story, and also the story of finding light.