The Way It Really Was
This book is about my life, primarily from the time that I can remember, which is around six years old; the good times and the bad times; about the way I have risen and fallen in this life. I read a passage in the Bible where Paul, the writer, talks about having trouble on every side. This is the attitude I have kept throughout my life. I want others, especially those who need to hear this story, to gain something from reading my story and that you can make it in this world if you are determined. I credit my success to God Almighty; the faith and trust I've put in him has made me a new person. The things I've endured in my sixty-four years on this earth, from being from the heart of the state of Mississippi where there is very little growth for people of color; where there are no jobs, no housing, and other people will tell you, "We like our little town just like it is." They have everything they need in the land they own: the cotton, soybeans, fishponds, and anything else they can grow. They don't want to see any growth. No jobs, no housing, no reason for any to stay around. I want the younger people to know that the grass can be greener on the other side.
An older man said to me one day as I talked to him about not being able to find a job, he said to me, sometimes you have to go to where the job is. I did what he suggested. I moved to the state of Michigan, where I currently reside at this time. That was the best advice I had ever received in a long time. I want to tell others how moving from Mississippi changed my life. It gave me a whole new outlook on life. I began to see the world as a different place. Things began to happen for me that changed the way I thought, the way I did things in life. I began to make money for myself. I want people to know who are going through what I went through that you can be up today and down tomorrow or up today and down today. I want to say to you today, whoever you are, you can be what you want to be in this day and age. Set your goals, keep your focus, and you will make it.
-- Thomas Lockhart