One Thin Thread

by Brady Dennis

Jerrick Blue was 6 months old when social workers placed him in the care of his aunt, Patricia Blue.

His mother, Jerothea, who battled mental problems and once was arrested after chasing a neighbor with a knife, never again played a role in his life. She died in 1996.

Aunt Pat, a short, round woman who worked nights as a nurse at Tampa General Hospital, raised Jerrick as her own.

She toted him to church and made him take out the trash. She made him go to school, get regular haircuts and wear clean clothes. She taught him to answer questions with "ma'am" and "sir."

She shielded him from the darker side of his family, the relatives who lived in sketchy neighborhoods near Ybor City. She told Jerrick that working held more honor than stealing. She hammered home the dangers of selling drugs. . .

Read the rest at the following link. Read it...you need to.

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/10/22/Floridian/One_thin_thread.shtml