Most Incredible Studio: "Hi, Veracity Savant, who held you down?"
Veracity Savant: No one man is an island, and yet, I have lived my entire life trying to master the art of becoming a self-sustaining species. My desire to not need anyone for anything supersedes my desire for relationship, community, and intimacy on most days. And it has created a pretty peaceful life for me.
The community I have today, I had to grow it. The girlfriends I call sisters are a direct result of me learning the power of reciprocity. And the familial ties I hold dear are alive and well because I die to my ego daily. But I will always call me before I call three. Still, there is one person in my life who, since Day 1, has been a tree, planted by the still waters. A constant, immovable force, reminding me to return home, to my body, to myself, to my right mind. They are my emergency contact, the one who made me the person I am today, and the one who consistently mirrors the life lessons God has for me.
That person, is my son Khalil.
As a young girl, I never wanted children. Couldn’t see it in the cards for me. The money, the freedom, hell, even the man. But a child, absolutely not. I had spent too much time as the eldest daughter in the home taking care of my younger brothers. Too much time spending my summers babysitting instead of swimming in the pool and playing at the park. Too much time sharing food, helping with homework, and “being an example.” I had rejected motherhood even before my womb could make space for it. But man plans and God laughs.
And today, I have been a mother as long as I have been an adult. Today, when asked about who holds me down, the one constant is the brightest star in the sky, my Son. A balm in Gilead, a rose in Sharon, he is the long-awaited holy one in my life. The one I didn’t even know I needed. Now don’t misconstrue my love; I am not one of his little friends...lol. But as he approaches two decades around the sun, and I sit in deep contemplation of my role as mother, I am both grounded in and flooded with gratitude. Parenthood requires, demands, no pretense. It is an exercise in fortitude, grown in grace, and molded in modeling.
You see, to be a good parent, you have to clean from the inside out so you don’t get no dirt on the clean. And as much as I have worked hard to be a good model for my son, to live a life cloaked in integrity, the real MVP has been him. He is the sweetest young man, and he’s been that way since a baby. A two-way mirror, the light is reflected both ways, and I get to learn as much as I teach. We do not sleep until the other is settled. We do not eat without thinking of each other’s appetite.
We do not forget about one another, in big or small part, even when separated by continents. And when the storms come, and the winds rage, we float our way back to a place of understanding. Through mothering, I have learned to love and be loved. I have learned the true meaning of patience, kindness, not being easily angered, always protecting, always trusting, always hoping, always preserving, always abiding. I have learned.
And I realize, now more than ever, that mothers sometimes birth their saviors.