JOYCE

"If I could give any Black woman their flowers, it's hard to choose one, but I would choose my mom. Because, I just turned 50 and I remember when my mom was 50, she ran two marathons… she might have been 51 or 52. She ran the New York Marathon and she ran the 100th Boston Marathon. At the time when she was 50, I was 24, 25, and just to know that your life keeps going after 50 and that you are by no means at the end. She’s been an inspiration around self-care, around lifelong wellness practices, and that’s been a journey off and on for me for my whole life. She is a constant inspiration. She does tai chi, she’s involved in studies at Emory to address Alzheimer’s as that runs on our side of the family. She eats well, she stays moving, she tries to stay in a positive frame of mind. I have a 14-year-old, I have a high performing job that's pretty stressful sometimes, and she just has always been an example of how to navigate all that. Black women have always been in my life and always pushed me forward… My mother graduated from law school the same year I graduated from high school. She went on to be a judge; she started off as a psychiatric social worker. She went part-time when we were kids so she could run us around. She's just been very strategic, purpose filled and purposeful about wellness, balance, giving yourself grace, being prayerful. And I do give her flowers. We give her flowers multiple times a year, my brother and I – but I would give her more if I could.”