by GMPateek

Created on: December 19, 2008

Showing any interest in nature while growing up in public housing, was not a "hip hop" thing to do, nor was it even a priority. This fact I'm sure, often showed in the daily activities that took place in the jets (public housing). Where lack of respect for things like "mother nature", only added to the harshness often displayed by people outside of public housing, when dealing with those of us who lived on the inside. It made our humanity appear faint, almost non-existent. This is also one of the misconceptions that makes it impossible to judge a group of people, by the character of a few. I am sure that anyone who has any knowledge about birds, is familiar with the "love birds". It has been stated and documented that, "the death of one in a pair of love birds, is faithfully and almost immediately followed by the death of the one left behind. For me this fact was a mind blowing revelation. I never understood the connection or the reasoning in this. When ever death in a family occurred where one spouse died and the other one's death follow directly afterwards, the devastation of it all was too over whelming. It was impossible to see beyond the pain over the losses. So looking at this issue from a human perspective just didn't make sense to me. Then again, I'm not a "love bird". I have however had the privilege of knowing and finally understanding what that kind of connection between two souls is all about. I was fortunate enough to witness and appreciate the depths that love can reach, between a man and a woman. Like the couples I refer to as, "love birds", after moving away from public housing. There were many married couples who lived at 4331 S. Federal where I grew up. Yet there were only three couples who I remember and now refer to as "love birds", who's deaths were simultaneous. The deaths of those couples for me, were as inspiring as they were sad and indeed as rare as the legacy they left behind. Their are some people who would probably disagree with me. The way I see it is, "if there is any beauty to be found in death, it would be there in the eternal joining of those couples and rightly so". They were not perfect by any means, but they were the epitomy of their marriage vows, "for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and health, till death do us part". Those of us who grew up in public housing witnessed those couples face their vows together, day in and day out, from the beginning to the end of their lives. We never realized what we were witnessing at the time, neither did those couples realize the legacy of love they would leave behind. I am a better person because of those "love birds". I found strength, hope and the true meaning of loving another person, who returns that very same love back to you. Writing this chapter is important to me because, it contributes greatly to the humanity and spirituality of all people, especially those of us who grew up in public housing.

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