By Jay Williams
Staff Writer
As a kid I remember seeing his face and hearing his voice, but never was it permanent. My mom and dad got a divorce when I was three years old. People don’t understand how hard it is for a teenager to have a single parent at times; as a young man, I found and find myself looking for answers from him, but he was never there. I watch some of my closest friends struggle with the same thing.
I love my Dad. I never told him that though, because it’s hard to say it when I feel like I don’t mean it at times. I remember when my mom would take me to go meet him so I could spend the weekend with him. We did the same thing almost every weekend: Go to a movie, eat and talk. For the most part, it was nice, but it wasn’t enough. When the weekend was over we would meet back up and I would go home with my mom. I cried every time I left him, but to this day, I couldn’t tell you why.
But I couldn’t just let him and the situation control my life. If I wanted to know how to become a man I would have to get out and do it myself. I’ve made the mistake of thinking that I was right, but that is just life. Trial and error.
My 18th birthday just passed, and I’m sitting in the driver’s seat of a life that I would not have ever expected to have. From my great friends and few family members, to my football career and my biggest fan, I call her Mama.
Lisa Renee Williams is probably the only person in my life that knows what moves I’m going to make before I make them. For 14 years she has been on the sidelines cheering, laughing, crying and worrying. She has never missed a game. I don’t know where I would be without the person that I call mom.
There comes a time when you have to buckle down and suck it up, even when you know nothing is going your way, you have to push yourself through it or you are going to be down forever and that, in itself is the one thing my mom has taught me. My mom is a saint and fighter who will do everything for someone else before she does anything for herself. When I try to do that, I fail. I still don’t realize how good of a parent she is. But I do know one thing, my mom will stop at nothing to love me and support me and make sure I have everything I need to continue living the life that I have. We’ve had our fights and arguments, but everyone knows that it’s different when you’re arguing with a parent. Give it 150 percent she tells me all the time, on and off the field. Wherever I go, when I come back, I’m getting her out of Chatham County.
