Ethel Waters

Dear Ethel Waters,

when i heard and read about your birth, the circumstances that lead you to become the 

person you wanted to be, the question that arises in my head is did you ever feel unwanted? Were you constantly burdened, overwhelmed by constantly feeling unwanted? A thirteen year old mother who wasn't ready to take care of you. A father who brutalized your mother. You were born from hatred. How did you do it, overcome feeling unwanted, because it monopolizes every aspect of my life. It runs me into the ground. i wonder why you married at thirteen, at the same age your mother was raped and had you. i wonder why you married someone abusive, but he must not have always been that way. I wonder if it all stemmed from feeling unwanted and if it too ate at you from the inside out. If you too tucked yourself into bed hoping tomorrow will be the day that you finally realize your self-worth.