Stephanie was born by Caesarean section at 11:45 pm, she was then taken to the special care nursery for observation, in 1979 caesarean delivery was performed under anesthesia, so all I remember was being scared ( first birth) and counting from 100 backwards as far as 99 was all I got, then waking up to be told I had a beautiful baby girl…I remember finding out I was pregnant, being terrified at all the horrible delivery stories I had heard, although my sister had already given birth to 2, I was still scared. So…I loved being pregnant. I remember the first time I felt her move, I asked my sister what is this, she felt my stomach, and said that’s the baby moving… It was the most wonderful feeling ever; I tingled from head to toe…
She was a hard child to follow for her 2 brothers, she was the most perfect baby, child, teenager, any mother could ever wish for. Never gave me any problems, very loving and sweet as could be. I always received compliments on her from every one; teachers loved having her in their class. Jamel came 4 years later, then Josh 8 years after Jamel. Her best friend was Summer Spencer, who lived in the neighborhood behind us. They were inseparable, Summer was such a good friend, and Stephanie had a hard time when they moved to Florida, she never had that kind of friendship with anyone else, they stayed friends always, and communicated as often as possible over the years…
She dealt with jealousy when she was a teenager, after all not only was she a sweet girl, but she was cute, and everyone liked her, so she soon learned how backstabbing jealous girls can be and how rumors are spread…She always worried what others said, guess that was something she picked up from my Mom, who was always more concerned with what was said or what society thought, anyway, Stephanie didn’t learn until later on in life that it doesn’t really matter what people think as long as your being true to yourself and respecting you. So she had a variety of friend, not all that I approved of, some really scary, and some troublemakers, but she always found the good in everyone, and asked that I give them a chance. I can only think of 2 friends that I wish I had closed the door on, but she did, eventually, shut them out of her life.
After high school, she started seeing Sabrah’s Dad…she had been offered a modeling career but liked the “bad” boy type… (which he really wasn’t until later on in life), he was abusive, and caused a wreck while she was driving, she hit her head, went to the hospital, and it left a scar on her face above her nose…the modeling notion was a done deal, at least in her eyes after that…
She had been told when she was 17 that she would never have children, so she dealt with that, excepted it, and planned her life accordingly, then she found out she was pregnant with Sabrah…she was so excited, and expected Sabrah’s Dad to feel the same, but he didn’t, he could have cared less. Sabrah was born in Athens, GA on April 25th, 2002. The delivery went smoothly considering how tiny Stephanie was, normal child birth, we were worried she might have had to have a Caesarean also. The father showed up, didn’t stay, and didn’t sign her birth certificate….that was the end of that relationship, and Stephanie and Sabrah moved back home. Stephanie was 22, she turned 23 later that year in September..