Natalie Brown:
CLASS OF 1984
A.C. Flora High SchoolClass of 1984
Columbia, SC
Natalie's Story
Hello to My Fellow A.C. Flora Classmates of 1984:
I hope this message greets you with a smile!
After leaving the secure walls of ACF and entering the real world, my life has been consumed with eclectic experiences--overflowing in blessings and opportunities that have elevated my spirit beyond the sky, to hardships that have left me aching in the belly of my soul. As I travel on this sojourn that we call life, I have made a few memorable stops along the way, reached some incredible milestones and I pray that I still have many, many miles to go before I sleep.
My tenure at the University of South Carolina, Columbia campus, earned me a degree in English/literature and a journalism fellowship. Immediately following college, I worked as a newspaper journalist and eventually my career evolved to my leading efforts in public and media relations, non-profit program development and spokesperson at various organizations. My professional career has afforded me opportunities to travel and connect with people from all walks of life such as President Bill Clinton, The Artist Prince, a mother and daughter separated for 30 years to an 84-year-old fragile lady with a resilient spirit living in the worst case of squalor and dilapidated housing, which lacked running water and heat, I have ever witnessed.
As a result of my interviews, the mother and daughter reconnected and told me that my compassion made it easier for them to come back together 30 years after the mother put her daughter up for adoption. Although a journalist is not supposed to get involved with the people in their stories, I cried tears of joy throughout the interview with this pair as though I was a part of their family. And my story about the elderly lady caught the attention of the local housing authority and she was relocated to a beautiful, clean, modernized apartment.
Additionally, I have a passion for serving disadvantaged and disenfranchised people and have spent most of my adult life volunteering in the community. Fr...Expand for more
om my advocacy work, I will never forget connecting with an indigent single mother of six children who needed help during her last days of battling cancer. It was heart-wrenching watching this young woman suffer and more heart-breaking when she died leaving behind six beautiful children who are now being reared by their maternal grandmother.
As a young journalist drunken with ambition, regardless of the story line, I always searched for the human angle and the truth in what I wrote. Today, that once young and ambitious journalist is a seasoned woman of God and I am simply grateful for the gift of life. I have witnessed the glory of God in the simple and not-so simple things. Each day, I strive to be a better servant of God. Admittedly, I don't always make the mark. But, I do believe we should always strive to be better and do better with what God has given us.
Today, I am going through a healing process, and gradually penning the words to my first novel. I am a single mother to a teenage daughter and an adult son. I am also Boo Boo to a handsome grandson.
Recently, I attended the funeral services of Clay Murrell, one of our dear classmates who obviously lived a blessed and full life, yet still, a life gone too soon for us. Rewinding thirty years ago, I had no inkling that the intelligent and quick-witted Clay Murrell who often made me laugh, would die at age 47 from cancer or that so many of our dear classmates would be gone too soon. Since Clay's death was the most recent on my radar, it left me pondering many things about life, including memories about our time shared at ACF. I know that some of you reunited recently at our 30th Year Class Reunion. I hope you had an unforgettable time.
As Class President, I became disconnected from my class. However, please know that my physical absence does not mirror what I feel in my heart! The love and precious memories we shared are forever treasured in the depths of my soul.
Lovingly,
Natalie Brown
ACF 1984 Class President
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