"You Should've Been There," is the warmth, stillness and defining moments of my life and the lives of the most loving people I know. "Hills to roam down, dancing til we got dizzy, and the imagination of a small child changing the world through words. I've taken pen to paper to write a book of fiction, nonfiction and historical happening to journey back through time, where love for family was profound, where the shaping of identity was being formed and even in the absence of a parent, the image of the person remained strong. We didn't know it, but it was a time where we were all there experiencing life together. The journey back is the experiences of the warmth, stillness and the defining moments of the story, "You Should've Been There. The book is enriched with the artwork of Eli, my endearing brother who helped me capture the true essence of what it was like growing up. The book is a sharing experience for the reader where they too can recapture those experiences that had true heart and meaning. Julita
About the Author: My story isn't any different than a lot of the people who I grew up with. I am the oldest of eight and my mother raised all eight of us in a 'humble housing project in Southern CA. It was time where society's norms were radically changing. We were in the midst of a civil right movement, a youth revolution, and a war that consumed the innocents of its people; a movement where love was supposed to be free and a time where struggle marginalized the most vulnerable. Even though there were sometimes struggles, in retrospect, I lived life to its fullest and the things that helped me to grow, mature and to change my circumstance were the stories and all that was happening around me. I was always watching, waiting and listening for the next episode of what life had to offer. How better to articulate those happenings, but through story? I could always create a rolling hill to run down, sunrays, sandy shores, moonbeams, streams, beaches and oceans, roaring waves and long journeys through time. There were the women warriors who tended our wounds and the vast imagination of how I (only in my head) could and would change things. I knew the God had a plan and as I journeyed through life he held me close beneath his wings and gave me the faith that as I journeyed he would never leave me nor forsake me. The faith and the grace are the beginning of the story that reached far back to the 1880's to now. I needed to keep those happenings not just for the sake of remembering, but for the sake of knowing how far we came by faith. That faith developed in to stories about being the first Black cheerleader in High School, developing a love for dance, graduating with a BA at 50 (a 4.0 student), and obtaining a Master's degree at 55, raising 3 remarkable sons and being married to the love of my life for over 38 years. I was also able to serve Head Start children and families for over 30 years where I gave back that was so graciously given to me. These are the love stories, stories of growing pains, stories of mud pies, paper cut outs, stories of triumphs, and mostly made up stories all from the imagination of a small child. The words I couldn't articulate, like the "I love you Mom," or the plea to say, "I'm sorry" were always screaming to get out and so it was, I was the story and the story was me.