Because of the Eastern European influence in my life and being included in an upbringing of love, perseverance, and faith, I am who I am.
Family history runs deep in these traditions, a legacy traced back to women of great strength and influence.
Grandma Daisy was a pervasive influence in my life, as was my Great Uncle Darrell, who often referred to my daughter Natasha Shokokara as the Ascendancy to the Line of Raskolnikov, a compliment it took her years to comprehend. He was a genius whose IQ was almost untestable; may God rest his soul. Daisy knew more about spiritualism than any other human being I have ever known, and she gifted me with many of her books, some of which I had the privilege to study, and some of which were outlawed by the Vatican. Alas, knowledge is power.
There are many foundlings in our family, which is why I remark that family is forged of blood and fire. No one can say that I am not a Viking. For my daughter’s name, though Japanese, Shoko, also sounds like the Bulgarian phrase for a small, hot cup of cocoa. My Grandma Daisy and great aunts and uncle thought I had named her after that because of her dark skin and long black hair.
In the end, we are all FAMILY, and God’s children, after all.