Family Tree Girl

White ladies, I have some bad news.

I love you.

(That is not the bad news. I just want to say it first, because I do love you.)

You raised me. You are most of the ladies I spend time with. You are all of the ladies that I am related to. You are most of the ladies that I learned with, and work with. You are the ladies who licked a hankie and wiped my face before the pastor of the parish came around to our table. You are the ladies who taught me how to cook the things your husbands and sons loved to eat. You are the ladies who showed me to tuck a pair of pads and a bottle of ibuprofen into my purse, always (always! don’t forget). You are the ladies who smoothed your hands down my hair while I fell asleep in your lap. You…