The Generational Curse

Rickyshia bottomed out after her fourth child. Maybe it was postpartum depression, she thinks. She stayed inside all day. Rarely talked. Never smiled.


"After my mama died, everything went downhill," Rickyshia says. "I lost my apartment, lost my car, lost my job. I'm trying to get back on my feet because I want something for me and my kids."


"I feel like sometimes I can't succeed at nothing," she says. "I went and filled out all these applications, and there's no luck. I can't get a job. Without a job, I can't do nothin' else."


Sometimes, she thinks about when her mother visited her from the grave. Rickyshia was sleeping in the old house. She startled awake to find Gloria's ghost standing [...]. Gloria stood and watched her daughter and finally spoke.


You need to use your knowledge. Do you hear me?


Yeah [Rickyshia Replied].


Rickyshia says she hasn't yet figured out what her mother meant.




-from Sugar Hill Pastor
Takes Steps in Right Direction
By Paul Meyer
Dallas Morning News
October 16,2007