Bravery Runs in the Family (For My Mother, born Mary Magdalene Young) (Louis Toliver Jr-Swartz, LA)

"Bravery Runs in the Family"

(To My Mother, Born Mary Magdalene Young)

The place that I stand in my life right now

To my mother, I owe the most credit

Every virtuous quality that you see in me

It is from her in which these values were set

My mother once told me long after I left home

That I was the bravest man she soon knew

It is funny to now to think of this moment

Because to me I was then young and cowardly

Though I will always be my mother ‘s baby son

I now claim that I will be that brave man

That my mother saw in me before I did

And take care of myself and my community

Spiritual, hardworking, giving, loving, funny, noble,

These are just a few qualities that “Mama” gave me

So the success you see through me in my life

Remember this man was shaped by his brave mother