Tag Archives: happy birthday

I Wanna Say Happy Birthday

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I’d like to take this time and give a shout out to a very interesting woman. This woman co-authored a NY Times best seller. She is well known in the tech journalism community. She never sleeps. 😉 And she is a very generous woman from my point of view. I’m talking about Gina Smith.

Image credit Julie Blaustein

Today is her birthday. I don’t know how old she is, nor do I care, but birthdays are special. It’s another year under your belt and a chance to grab another one. Happy birthday, Gina. I hope this lil’ blurb finds you well on this day.

For those of you that don’t know, Gina is also the Editorial Director of aNewDomain.net. Gina gave lil’ ol’ me a chance to join a team that’s on the way to doing big things in the world of tech journalism. I was lucky enough to have comments on aNewDomain regarding the late Steve Jobs and other postings noticed by her. I appreciate Gina reading my mindless blog posts, Google Plus posts, and later reaching out to me saying “you should write.” She has been very encouraging to me as I am NOT a writer, nor have I ever claimed to be. Gina from day one took a chance on me and is continuing to provide guidance and assistance in anyway she can from a 3 hour time-zone difference. (She’s in California) Whether it’s skype calls, Google Plus messages, or emails, she’s very quick to ask “how can I help you?”

Thank you again, Gina, for everything.

Happy Birthday, Gina. May you have a great one this day way out there on the west coast. 😉

-RAP, II

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A Special Blog Post

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I wanna give a shout out to someone. “Mot” Pruitt. For those of you that don’t know, “Mot” is my momz. Well today is her birthday. I don’t know how old she is off da top of my head, because I never keep up with ages. All I know is she’s like 18 years older than I am. So i’m guessing 51. (yall will have to check my math) But let me tell you a little bit about her.

My momz is a woman of very interesting and diverse background. She grew up in da south living day to day life assisting in taking care of her siblings and family. There were hard times in the family growing up, but she continued to be persistent and did what needed to be done. My aunt and uncle, her younger siblings, were and still are a handful at times. She was there to mentor and/or discipline when need be. There’s even a story of when the finances were so low that she was forgotten about at Christmas and didn’t get a gift. She took it in stride and moved on, because she knew there were more important things such as making sure her baby brother was happy on Christmas.

I later came into her life and if any of you know me well, you know my life is full of “interesting” moments. And since my life is “interesting”, then she had to have an interesting life as well. My momz and pops didnt get along for a few years and split. This left my younger sister and I spending about 80% of our time with her my grandparents. Being a single mom of two brings on challenges. Some included taking her crybaby first born son and pushing him into da world of football when she didn’t really want to. I’m glad she did, because you all know how I feel about that game.

Other challenges included watching a young boy grow up slowly. I don’t know about yall, but there are times when a “son” needs his mother and other times when he needs his father. My father was very good to me as well, but wasn’t always available for every situation. That’s just da way it was. How does a mother explain to her son how his scruffy peach-fuzz is supposed to look? How does a mother tell her son how to deal with bullies and taking up for themselves? Sure it’s all possible, but sometimes da father is needed. When my pops wasn’t available, my momz stepped right up. I can still remember her telling me that my chin hair needed to be trimmed, “don’t just let it grow wild.”

My momz busted her ass for my sister and I. She worked two to three jobs while I was growing up. I can remember seeing her briefly at times because she had to head out to another job. She did this because she wanted to get my sister and I out of da apartments. She wanted to own a home and give us da best living experience possible. She did. We didn’t realize it initially, all my sister and I saw was a patch of woods, no house.

My momz has been there for me more than I can ever give credit for. No she wasn’t at every football game or other sporting event I participated in, but she was there when she could be. I know she was because I have vivid memories of her telling me how awful I looked with my big feet, long arms, and BIG HEAD in a football uniform as a 8th grader. But I also remember watching a home video done by a cousin of one my games and hearing her voice yelling for me to “RUN” after I caught da ball.

My momz and I didn’t always have a great relationship. I spent a lot of my teen years locked in my room (by choice) if I wasn’t practicing or out playing ball. Just didn’t think we got along. But with all of that stuff, she still supported me as a mother should. When congrats and credit was due, I got it. When tough love was due, I got that too. Ask her about her house key? Well da speech was “when you’re out, you’re out.” As in outta da house. So I do NOT have a house key for her. It’s all good. It’s just a way of getting kicked outta da nest. Nah mean?

But anyway, I can go on and on and on about what this woman has done for me and my family. I have been through some pretty jacked up stuff in my life and she has been right there EVERY SINGLE TIME. Not there to make me feel like an idiot (even if I was) or to make me feel worse than I already did. She was there for support and still is.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to provide or do what she has done for me, but da least I can do is say “happy birthday” to a woman I love that has been there for me from day 1. I hope you have many more and I’m grateful and thankful for you more than you may realize. And like all my posts, I update the “featured artist”. This time it will include a song for for you.

-RAP, II