tamea

Sunday, Cindie and I discovered that Tamea had been killed in a car accident. We were shaken for many reasons, including our painful history of lost loved ones from car accidents.

But mostly, we were broken for Tamea and her family. She lived with her eight brothers and sister and mom four doors down from us. She was about seventeen years old. We have known her for seven years.

Moving into our neighborhood, into this foreign culture, we probably assumed that we had a lot to teach these kids about how to live rightly. Tamea showed us rather quickly that we had a lot to learn from them.

The main lesson being loyalty. We invited Tamea, five of her siblings and many other cousins and neighbors to our church's VBS that first summer that we lived here. Ah, the wonderful things you do when you don't know any better.

Though where we live (Pontiac), white people are a minority, the church is in Waterford, which is over 90% white. The church had (to my knowledge) never had a black person attend with any kind of regularity in it's 50+ years of existence.

Needless to say, they got plenty of looks. And in the culture these kids were from those looks don't fly. When Tamea saw one of the kids giving a look to one of her sisters, Tamea punched him in the mouth.

She knew there would be consequences, but she did not hesitate. She knew she was in trouble, but she was entirely unapologetic. In her mind, she had without question done the right thing. Someone was making her sister feel small, and she was not going to let that happen.

Tamea has always shown that sort of loyalty and fearlessness. I would guess that her sisters always felt more secure having her around. There was never a question that she would have their backs, and she was fierce. I say that with great admiration. How will they cope without her?

A couple of weeks ago she was over to our house. She was holding Ramiah and gushing over her.

We loved Tamea and would give so much to have her back and be able to tell her how much she means to us.

I'm rambling now. So, let me just say, we'll miss Tamea. Or hearts break on behalf of her family.