Woodrow Wilson was president when I was born. He was reelected in 1916 as a peace candidate, which was the same year my mother brought me to Hume, Virginia to live with my grandfather, Elder Phillip Washington. Elder Washington was the third pastor of the Mount Morris Baptist Church. President Wilson tried to mediate between the warring nations; but when the Germans resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917, Wilson brought the United States into what is now believed to have been a war that made the world safe for democracy. You may think this is a bit of abstract history, but it actually parallels my life in an odd way. You see, I was born on October 18, 1913 in Washington, DC, and my grandfather didn’t like me at all (he was at war) but when my mother brought me to him in 1916, my innocence brought peace to our family. You see, I reminded him too much of my father and he refused to allow my parents to marry.
