''No Excuses'', My Legacy

About the Book

My mother is our mentor; she is one of the most intelligent people we know. Mother never allowed us to make excuses for our failures; she told us to learn from your mistakes and continue to move forward. She explained when she stopped walking at the age of twenty-two, she wanted to give up, but her mother told her that sometimes life is not fair; we must play the hand we are dealt in life. Once she learned to accept her disability, she began to strive for excellence by handling her responsibilities as a parent. Looking at my mother from a distance, you may see a beautiful woman in a wheelchair, someone who appears to be naïve and limited; however she is well aware of everything around her. She knows when you are being sincere or when you are trying to deceive her. Mother said she always listened to her parents and heard her friends; she said of course children disobey their parents from time to time, but overall she followed the rules that were passed down from generations. Before my mother stopped walking, she was an innocent, impressionable, and naïve Southern girl with a New York state of mind, alive and free with beauty to spare. Full of life, ready to take life by the horns, and one day she awakened unable to walk; she was a wife and mother, and at the height of life, her world came to a halt. After returning from a lengthy coma, she wondered, how would she make this transition to normalcy? When she came home from the hospital, she worked 4 A n g e l a J o n e s - W i l l i a m s hard to prove that she could handle her responsibilities as a mother; she was often interrupted by social workers or caseworkers who questioned our well-being. The questions were demeaning, to say the least, but Mother handled them proudly. She utilized the basic rules that governed her life as a youngster, and she understood the principles her mother used in the past, still applied in today’s world; if she asked questions, read, researched, and recorded, she could make a good life for herself. She told us, if I can be successful with my disadvantages, anyone could, no excuses. When Mother came home from Kessler Institute, they sent her home with a tilt table; it reached at least ten feet tall. This table was huge you had to wring it up and down; we loved rolling it up but hated rolling it back down because Mother had to sit back down in the wheelchair. I noticed after my Mother stood up on the tilt table for an hour or so, she was happier and more optimistic; I think this table allowed her creative juices to fl ow. She had enough energy for all of us; we were like minisoldiers, and she was the general. Mother maintained her house like the military. Everything had to be put in its place. She stated if you put things back where you fi nd them, you will be an organized person. Organized people are more successful; they handle issues without stress. Mother also cooked every day. She believed nutrition was key, she stressed, and this will help you start your day so you will pay more attention in school. She enforced keeping the house clean; she said your house refl ects your character. No one wants to marry a woman or a man who is not tidy. All of you 5 “ N o E x e c u s e s ” , M y L e g a c y should know how to cook and keep the house clean. Also she told us if we educate ourselves, we would have better opportunities in life than most people; she stated take a look at people who work hard, they have better outcomes. Do you think success will fall from the sky? She told us that each of you will make different choices in life, and later see the results of them. She said the unfortunate thing about life and perhaps the most frustrating is when your children listen to their friends rather than their parents. She continued by saying that society has conditioned children to be disrespectful to their parents and make them the enemy. She said education would bridge the gap and help you underst

About the Author

Martha Hargett born November 10, 1936 in Columbia NC. She is our mentor. She is one of the most intelligent people we know. She never allowed us to make excuses for our failures. She told us to learn from our mistakes and continue to move forward.