February is a time to honor Black History Month and celebrate the remarkable Black women making an impact in the Lake Norman area. One of those women is Willetta Jones, MS, CGC,

Certified Grief Coach and Owner/Founder of Abiding Grace, LLC. As our guest blogger, Willetta shares below the love, gratitude, and appreciation she has for the amazing women in her world who have inspired and shaped her—

Honoring the Women that Shaped Me

by: Willetta Jones, MC, CGC

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, an American historian, is considered to be the Father of Black History. He opened the doors for scholars in schools and colleges in the United States and was the second African American to obtain a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University. The first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard was W.E.B. DuBois. In 1915, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Inc., was created and in 1926 he organized “Negro History Week,” which later became “Black History Month.”

With that gratefully acknowledged, and since Lake Norman Woman Magazine is written for and about women, I’d like to honor some of the women in my life who influenced, taught, reared, and groomed me—helping me to develop into the woman I am today; and with love in my heart, I dedicate this article to my Sister in Christ, Barbara Hollomon, who passed away in December.

The inspiration for Abiding Grace, LLC, evolved from more than 40 years of caregiving for family and friends. My husband, Bill, and I are both only children and were responsible for my mother for over 30 years and his mother for nearly 13. Momma was a double amputee who resided in a nursing facility for the last eight or so years of her life. Both Momma and Bill’s mother were servant-leaders who believed in life-long learning and a commitment to living lives that promoted the dignity of every person they came in contact with. My Mother-In-Love, Omega M.J. Frazier, was the first African American female to become County Chairman for the Cooperative Extension Agency in the state of Maryland. PBS interviewed her concerning the last lynching that was in Princess Anne, Maryland, in 1933.

My cousins and I grew up in two-family households. My mother, Bennie Mae Collins, was a social worker by training. She was the Director of the Career Opportunity Program (COP) in Gary, Indiana, and one of the first Directors of the Gifted and Talented Programs in the country. My Aunt Carolyn Johnson was the first Black State Librarian in North Carolina. Aunt Emma Terry, Aunt Lillie Mae Edwards, and Aunt Lisa Neal, who was German, encouraged and empowered each of my cousins and me to develop and maintain standards of living that demonstrated love of family, community, and country.

In closing, I HAVE to thank my partner in crime, Bill Jones, who is also a Certified Grief Coach and our son Billy and his wife, Alicia, and our grandsons. I hope that voicing appreciation will inspire other women entrepreneurs of all ages to not only dream about their dreams, but to overcome challenges that will encourage them and others to become the Women of God that their lives are purposed to be.

Want to share your story? Email [email protected] to be considered for our guest blogger series!