Maria Aytes:  

I'll say it in an article I wrote: "After four marriages to men, who were just like my father, and the births of my four children, my fourth husband died of a heart attack. His death was a terrible and quick shock, which meant that I was left alone at age 48 to find out who was the real Maria Louise Bee. I had played the roles of appeaser and mediator, placater and arbitrator, negotiator and pacificator with husbands, children, supervisors, schools, doctors, and others in authority. I had suffered through domestic violence, survived three divorces without child support, a handicapped child, death of one child, sexual harassment on jobs, and single working motherhood. I graduated from the University of Life with honors. New roles became student, teacher, and karmic catalyst to other women. I chose to be tenacious, fearless, and adventurous. I developed spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically. I chose to finish the last fifty years of my life to protest unfairness, inequality, injustice, racism, prejudice and to offer help to the homeless, hopeless, helpless. After the choices made to change the external life skills at age fifty, I opened my heart, mind, soul, and spirit to channel the loving forces of the universe to learn how to love me in an internal manner. Meditation, quiet times, acquisition of spiritual knowledge of all religions led to a life style of internal calmness. I became a R...Expand for more