Against the Tides

These short stories are true. They are part of a vision to encourage others and oneself by remembering things that happened along life's journey and sharing them through a hindsight lens, a lens that has been illuminated by acknowledging God's grace and divine providence. The most amazing thing about this book is the great influence of two righteous people, Ralph and Lela Franklin, on the lives of each of the individuals who wrote a story in our book. Their honorable lives have had a multi-generational as well as a spiritual impact on our family. Moreover, Lela's accomplishments in education and her love for writing have been a continual blessing on our entire family. God's hand of love moved through our parents in a magnificent way, paving a clear path for later generations to emulate. A widow with six girls to raise leaves Tennessee for a new start up north in Detroit, Michigan. There, her fourth child meets and marries a man who becomes a Baptist minister. The stories in this book are written by their offspring and descendants. The stories convey the strength of the family matriarchs, the death of a wonderful father, and the turbulent times in Detroit in 1967 and 1968. The stories disclose the secret hopes and dreams of a woman who wants to get married and have children. The suspense is palpable as one story reveals the outcome of a bridge crossing and another story relays the results of what started as an everyday drive in an old car. The stories recount the attainment of educational scholarships and job opportunities and lay bare the universal truism that bad things can happen to anybody, young or old. The book details how ordinary days and routine activities can become tests of will that later turn into testimonies.