Sabrina Lewis:  

dley, Sr and great uncle Frank James Bradley, Jr. In August of 2007 her great great grandmother, Effie Bradley Simmons also went to be with our Angel. Today I revisited an old poem of mine 'Across the Porch From God'. It's one of my favorites. Let me know if you want me to share. PEACE the following was written prior to 8-4-2008 I've been on a journey. My life did not follow the paths I thought it would but then when I was young I didn't recognize that God is truly in control. I attended the University of Georgia and received my BFA in 1978. While there I met my future husband and we had 2 children. We divorced in 1991 and he died in 1997. Ellissa was 16 and Neiman was 11. It was a very rough time in our lives but by God's grace we are still here. Retired from the State DOT in March 2005, I had been babysitting my granddaughter Robynn and now I volunteer at Hillside Presbyterian Church of Decatur where Deb and I are members. The reason I say I had been babysitting my granddaughter is that she was killed 2 months before her 3rd birthday. Her name was Robynn T'kai Banks and she was truly a blessing from above. I loved her so much and she will always be in my heart. We call her our ANGEL and we know God does not make mistakes therefore she had served her purpose here on earth. She liked the color yellow and she loved butterflies. The following is a short story I have shared with family and friends: I want to share with you a little glimpse of joy I shared with my granddaughter Robynn. One day we were together and I stopped so my neighbor, Bud could fix one thing or the other on my car. He said it would take about an hour and I remember thinking, I don't have any toys, food, juice, books or anything to entertain the baby. What am I going to do with her all this time? Thanks to the advice of an old friend of mine, I decided to take her for a walk. We left the gas station and walked up the hill next door to the Salvation Army buildings parking lot. It was a sunny, beautiful day and as we walked a plane flew overhead and made a shadow on the ground. That shadow sparked imagination and soon Robynn and I were making the stiff armed shadow of an airplane and then the flapping wings of a bird shadows on the ground. We were playing. We were having fun. In front of one of the buildings, there was an L shaped sidewalk that ran along the front and led to the other side around the corner. At first by herself, she walked around the sidewalk but never turned the corner. When she got to the part facing the other parking lot, she would turn around and say ¿ready, set, now run!¿ At this point she would take off running and looking towards her right shoulder she could see herself reflected in the mirrored windows of the building. Soon I was taking that walk and run with her. "Ready, set, now run!" "Run faster gamma, run faster!" She would say to me while pumping her little arms and making sure she could see where I was in the reflection in the glass. She won every time. I'm so glad we had those races. There were a few steps leading down to a driveway in front of another building and eventually we went down those steps and across the driveway that had a yellow painted speed bump across it. That building had great big glass doors and a huge overhang that created an echo when we yelled underneath it. Our play area increased. We made the airplane shadows on the ground, walked around the sidewalk then ran back, then went down the steps and across the driveway walking on the speed bump like a balance beam, to end up in front of those doors and yelling, 'TA DAH!' It was a blast. I felt so free. Soon we were following the driveway to see where it led to. Oh boy, steps. Lots and lots of steps and holding hands we started to climb them, counting each out loud as we went higher and higher. It was like a wonderland just for us. There was so much to see and explore. She had to tilt her head back to see the clock face, it was so tall. Of course, we had to say all the numbers. There were benches and tables with chairs and planters with flowers and she was like Goldilocks. She had to try them all until she found the one that was just right for her. We went from table to table and chair to chair. The bench she finally chose was in front of the glass side of the building and we could see inside. There was a giant Christmas tree with all kinds of bright lights and colorful ribbons and bows and full size decorations of birds and birdhouses. The tree was that big. It was on a stand that was turning and so the view was constantly changing. It was so beautiful and we saw it together while sitting on the bench that she had picked out. What a special way to spend time together. Our shadows were growing long and I realized we had been gone a lot longer than Bud said it would take to fix the car. Where did the time go? How had I forgotten how much fun it was to play? Why had waiting for an hour seemed such an impossibly long time to spend entertaining Robynn? Reluctantly, it was time to leave our wonderland. We took a last look at the clock before we started down the steps. We counted each step as we went down them and holding hands we took a huge jump off the curb as if it were ten feet off the ground. We walked down the driveway and took a final turn at balancing on the yellow speed bump. At last we came to the big glass doors with the overhang and we yelled our last 'Ta Dah!' for that day. We walked down the hill and back to the station. Robynn's pull-up was hanging way down, she had wet so many times. She hadn't noticed and neither had I. We were playing. We were making an extra special memory. We were sharing a little glimpse of joy and now you have too! A grandmother's tears fall silently because it was not her child but it is still her pain. LadyCorvette©2007 Tony's daughter, Chloe' is 18 years old and headed for NYU in the fall. It's hard to believe she was 2 when he was killed in a tragic car accident. My son, Neiman is planning to go back to Gordon College in Barnesville. My daughter Lissa is expecting another baby girl, November 1st. God is good. When I perform at spoken word venues, my name is Lady Corvette. Most of the poems I've written in the past ten years have been for or about young people. The connection I make with young and old is truly something. Parents, grandparents, religious or not; there are some things that connect us to one another and I have been able to convey that through my words. It is awesome. I know that I've been blessed!