Chicken Soup for the African American Woman's Soul Read Online Free

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    â€œSo, baby, how is school? Do you like your classmates?”
    â€œYes, ma’am, I think I like them.”
    â€œWhat do you mean ‘you think’ you like them?”
    â€œWell there is a girl named Carol who is mean to all the girls. She is really mean to a new girl named Theresa.” Nanny took my hand and squeezed it to let me know she was really listening to me and that I could tell her what was on my mind.
    â€œCarol hangs around with a lot of other girls and they follow behind Theresa in the hallways and call her names behind her back. I feel so sorry for her because she looks so sad.”
    â€œWhat are you doing when the other girls tease Theresa?”
    â€œI try to look at her and smile. I even asked her if she needed a pencil one day, because I have a whole bunch of them that you bought me for school.”
    â€œThat is nice, baby. Always treat people right, and before you say mean or hurtful things to others, remember to ask yourself if you would want someone to hurt your feelings in that way. I am sure your answer will always be that you wouldn’t.”
    Within just a few blocks, Nanny taught me to treat people the way I wanted to be treated.
    â€œYour yard sure looks nice,” Nanny said to the lady gardening.
    â€œWhy thank you!” said the short, round brown-skinned lady. Nanny walked up to the fence and began carrying on a conversation with her. They talked about flowers and watering grass. Then they started talking about church and shopping. It seemed like she was standing there for hours.
    â€œWell Ms. Rose it was nice to meet you. Maybe I will see you again when I am walking by.”
    â€œIt was nice to meet you too, Ms. Fannie.”
    â€œNanny,” I said as I broke my silence. “I thought you knew that lady already.”
    â€œNo, ma’am, I didn’t know her already, but now she is someone I know.”
    Another block and Nanny taught me to be social, that talking to people makes new friends.
    Although I was the younger of the two of us it seemed as though Nanny’s energy was endless. She moved each leg back and forth with the strut of a broad peacock and the swish of a runway model.
    â€œNanny, I’m hot. Can we stop and get some ice cream at the drug store, please?”
    â€œGirl, it is too early to be eating ice cream!”
    â€œI know, but I am hot and tired. Please, Nanny, please!”
    I begged.
    â€œThe last time I bought you ice cream, you didn’t even eat the whole thing. You let it melt all over your hands and kept asking me to hold it while you played at the playground. You ended up throwing it away.”
    My lips began to poke out, and my face turned into the likes of a prune. I let her know that I was not happy with her comments and that I was not going to talk to her the rest of the way. I folded my arms in front of me and walked with my head up in the air. She just looked at me and laughed. She kept right on walking and never said a word for the rest of the block, but during the course of that block, Nanny taught me to waste not, want not.
    Finally, we got to a bus stop bench, and Nanny said, “Let’s sit here for a while and rest.”
    â€œNanny, can we please catch the bus the rest of the way?”
    â€œWhy would we do that?” she asked with a smile on her face. “Exercise is good for your legs and your heart. I have been walking since I was a little girl in Alabama. I used to walk with my Grandma Harriet just like you are walking with me now, and I walked with your mama when she was a little girl just like you. I didn’t have a car, but I didn’t let that stop me from going where I wanted to go.” She sounded so proud and independent. Her life had taught her to stand on her own two feet and not to wait for anyone to take her where she needed to go. In the course of this block, Nanny had taught me those same things and that exercise is important and good for