By Madeline Otten
Correspondent
Where do you live?
“I live in Palmyra.”
How long have you lived in Fluvanna County? What brought you here?
“I was born and raised in Fluvanna County, moved away after graduating from Saint Paul’s College and lived in Danville, Virginia for over 20 years. I returned to Fluvanna to be closer to my parents David and Charlene Anderson.”
Tell us about your family –
“My parents are David and Charlene Anderson, I have two amazing children Timothy and Zaria, and a precious grandson Liam.”
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
“Growing up I had a desire to become an attorney, a neurosurgeon and a psychiatrist.”
What was your very first job?
“My very first job was as a waitress in Fork Union at a little restaurant across from FUMA.”
What do you do for a living?
“Currently I am employed as a Reading Specialist for Charlottesville City Schools.”
What do you like to do in your spare time?
“I like to spend time with my family, gardening (flowers), and to read. I also serve on a variety of community service boards and committees.”
What is one food that you could never live without? What is one you can never bring yourself to eat?
“I cannot live without chef salad and lemons. I will never bring myself to eat shellfish or pigs feet.”
If there was a zombie apocalypse, who are three people you would want on your team?
“This is a difficult question, I would need my entire family.”
What are your three favorite movies?
“Selma; It’s a historical drama depicting a march led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. across the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma Alabama for voting rights. It lends itself to be of historical significance for the world.
Madea’s family Reunion; This movie in particular is a favorite because it references to the Madea the matriarch of the family bringing everyone together to celebrate family.
Oh Brother Where Art Thou? This movie is hilarious!”
Which is better – a novel or a movie?
“Reading a novel is better to me. I enjoy reading and creating a mind movie of how I imagine the characters and setting to be. I then often cross reference and view the movie to see if the story depiction captures what I imagined it to be.”
What fictional character do you wish you could meet and why?
“The Black Panther, the reason being he created a powerful fictional world of hope and pride.”
What is the best piece of advice you have received?
“Don’t take any wooden nickels and live your best life.”
What pivotal decision helped to shape your life?
“Attending Upward Bound at the University of Virginia during 9th-12th grade.”
Tell us about a way you have changed over the years.
“Over the years I have become wiser and more detail oriented in life and living around the world.”
What has surprised you about your life?
“I cannot think of any real surprises about my life. I do pray that “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”
What’s one thing you hope to accomplish before you die?
“To make this world a better place for my children and grandson, to leave it better than when I came.”
Tell us about one of your regrets.
“The only regrets that come to mind is that I wish my maternal grandparents Charlie and Frances Felton and paternal grandparents John and Helen Anderson would have lived to see me as an adult in 2021. I hope that I am living up to all they would expect of me and then some.”
Tell us about your proudest moment.
“The proudest moments of my life have been to become a mom to Timothy and Zari, Gigi to Liam, aunt to my only nephew Trey, and sister to Danisha and Erica.”
Where is your favorite place to travel to and why?
“My favorite place to travel other than to visit my son and his family would be going to the beach. There’s’ something about the sound of the waves crashing against the shore and looking out as far as the eye can see and it appears there’s no distinction between the ocean and the sky.”
When you are having a bad day, what do you do to make yourself feel better?
“Pray, meditate, read the Bible, look at pictures of my children, watch videos of my grandson Liam and listen to music.”
What is one thing the COVID-19 pandemic has taught you?
“What I learned from the COVID19 pandemic is that everything we know as a normal everyday life, changed and stopped the world in its tracks. The seriousness of the pandemic has even closed churches of which I never thought could be possible.”
What quote or saying do you connect with most?“You are where you are today because you stand on somebody’s shoulders. And wherever you are heading, you cannot get there by yourself. If you stand on the shoulders of others, you have a reciprocal responsibility to live your life so that others may stand on your shoulders. It’s the quid pro quo of life. We exist temporarily through what we take, but we live forever through what we give.” —Vernon Jordan.
This quote speaks to me about my life and living. I wouldn’t be here if not for others that have tread the way, so it makes me consciously responsible to be a person that others can depend upon to stand on my shoulders to help them along this journey of life. It’s our human responsibility to leave a footprint of such by helping others. Knowledge only matters if you can share with others to help them grow
