Written by Brittany Sky gave a moving understory to our 2016 November theme “Hard Times.”
Life can be very hard at times.
We’ve:
- Been wrongly accused as “Mommy” at the worst possible time.
- Lost our best friend, Tiger the dog, and watched our grandfather lose his memory to
dementia. - Received life changing information: our little brother diagnosed with leukemia. And we wait for more life changing news.
- Been banned from seeing our sister Lulu after she was burned by a caregiver, and told our absence was God’s will.
- Our arm candy, Carol, is saddled with a sociopath named MS.
- Become addicted to self-harm after being bullied as our mother faced ovarian cancer and lost.
- Learned that interracial relationships are hard and it is way too easy to slip back into white America.
- Left our husband, flown 2000 miles to Nashville with three children in the middle of a snow storm, and got stranded at the airport.
- Struggled with our depression, nearly losing our lives to it.
But, we are not alone.
We’ve seen community in:
- Jellyfish exhibits and Oreos.
- Grandfathers who hold us, kiss our foreheads, and recognize us in our tears.
- Mothers and fathers who hold our hands, pushing through our uncomfortable feelings.
- Having Lulu, our conviction it’s not God’s will, and it’s all going to be okay.
- Loving partners and strength training. It gives us joy and strong marriages.
- Teachers who notice and know us, and our own strength to stay sober three years.
- Coming out about our own white privilege on stage.
- Airport angels who opened up their homes and became friends.
- The beautiful, boundless love of family.
Thanks to all our storytellers–David, Christy, Michael, Amy, Sergio, Deepak, Lauren, Michelle, and Drew. Join us December 12 for our final 2016 event, “Holidays.” If you’ve got a story, let us know here!
Tenx9 Nashville Storytelling 
My proposal for Holidays Is the Holiday Package Program at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison. The Program has been in effect sixteen years, in which volunteers from many faith groups across the greater Metro Nashville area donate a variety of items such as food items, envelopes, bibles, coffee, tea, soap, shampoo, etc. to the prison beginning in middle November until November 30th. These items are assembled by volunteer inmates under the supervision of correctional officers and placed in bags. The bags are then placed in front of each cell in the prison on December 13-15.
This year, Carolyn Jordan, the “Grinchy” Associate Warden of Treatment, ruled the Program would be stopped due to “policy.” Chaplain Brian Darnell jumped the chain of command and went directly to TDOC Central Office and the Grinch’s decision was overruled. The Package program will go on as scheduled. When the packages are distributed in units 5 and 6 on the low security side, the men are able to come out of their cells and talk with the volunteers. Members of Trinity Presbyterian Church, including myself will help distribute the packages.