One day In high school I ended up in the social studies AP’s office. That changed everything for me. I met the Berk’s who listened, empathized and worked with me. I entered the law program and was involved in mock trial and moot court. I loved going to our little courtroom to learn about law. Mrs Berk would have made an awesome lawyer but I’m so honored to have had her as a teacher, who became family. She is lovingly referred to by many as Mama Berk. She loved her students fiercely and made learning and accountability to each other in class the norm. She opened doors you thought were closed and Mr Berk was right there beside her echoing the same sentiments. She made sure she shared all she knew about the world we were going into and reminded us BIPOC students that there would be people who wanted to stop us but that we could not and should not let that happen.

We had somewhat lost touch and we tried to reconnect thanks to their daughter. There was a lot going on personally at that time and energy was not there. In May of last year when my mom died (those are words I barely type/say because it overwhelms me) they used that same fierceness to reach out and I just could not or did not have the strength to talk to them. Mostly because I knew talking to them would break me down. Big time. After all, these were my school parents who knew me since I was 14 and were at every graduation since that point.

I didn’t think my heart could break anymore but it did when I learned of her passing. Again my heart is so broken. Thank you Mama Berk for all you did for me while I was in high school all the way ‘til now.
Rest easy now.