I cannot thank you enough Cincinnati ! Let’s finish the #WPMOYChallenge strong and bring it home for the @VillageofMerici. RT/QT to enter to win 2 tickets (Section 101) to this Sunday’s game. Let’s go end it the right way. Who Dey! #WPMOYChallenge Karras

DOUBLE VOTE DAY GIVEAWAY Custom @CincyHat Air Jordans! We’ve partnered with @offtrackcustoms to bring this amazing pair of custom painted Mid-Top Air Jordan 1s to life! Winner will get to choose shoe size. RT this post and comment #WPMOYChallenge Karras to enter! Who Dey!

DOUBLE VOTE DAY GIVEAWAY Custom @CincyHat Air Jordans! We’ve partnered with @offtrackcustoms to bring this amazing pair of custom painted Mid-Top Air Jordan 1s to life! Winner will get to choose shoe size. RT this post and comment #WPMOYChallenge Karras to enter! Who Dey!

I was 12 yrs old when my mother lost the ability to parent me safely. I was taken from her & put into a huge, scary children's shelter. It took a long time but they finally found someone who would take in a deeply troubled, rather wild child like me. Mama Essie was a black woman & I had a black foster sister, too. A second one came later. She had three of us little hooligans. And oh what a hooligan I was! I wasn't all that nice to her. I stole from her. I ran up her phone bill calling my boyfriend. When she put a lock on the dial-up phone, I broke it. I was a mess & a handful. I eventually ran away & was put back in the shelter & never saw her again. I'm sure I broke her heart. And... The foundation of EVERYTHING I know about grace, abt dignity, abt fashion, makeup, hair care (I still use a pick), elegance, excellence, self-care, patience, love, goodness, generocity & fierceness in the face of pain came from my Mama Essie. She was one of the highest ranking civilians in the military in the US, female & black no less! In the 80s! She had severe eye issues, maybe even a glass eye. She SINGLE PARENTED three hurting foster TEENS. She owned her own house. In the 80s she took in a wild, ignorant WHITE child. Y'all, it wasn't the done thing in that area. Talk about badass!!!! Whatever good there is abt who I am, where I am, how I am it is due to the foundation she laid. She showed me kindness, wasn't bowled over by my sass & taught me things my own mom never did/could. I don't know why she came to mind today but the tears are rolling, the heart is welling & I so want to honor her today with this little public rememberence. I tried to find her & haven't yet. Mama Essie, if you're still with us or peering through the windows of heaven...thank you. From the bottom of my heart. I heard you. I saw you. You made a difference, more than you'll ever know.

Wait for the person who sees you at your worst and reminds you who you actually are. Wait for the person who holds you accountable and wraps you up in love.

YERSON WITH THE GAME-WINNER #CincyTilTheEnd

"If I could give you one thought, it would be to lift someone up. Lift a stranger up - lift her up. I would ask you, mother and father, brother and sister, lovers, mother and daughter, father and son, lift someone. The very idea of lifting someone up will lift you, as well."

Yesterday I saw a TikTok of someone's parents slow dancing after 30 years together. The most liked comment was "with your person, this just comes easy." It's fascinating how we don't understand behind every fulfilled relationship was struggle, obstacles, times where there was disconnection, and pain. Life isn't easy and neither are relationships. Loving someone long term is a choice, a practice, and a commitment. The reward is love, respect, and mutual admiration.