Jasmine Nicole

The earliest memory I have is of me walking to school with my daddy (stepdad). My stepdad was the man who raised me and the man who I knew as my father.

I was either 3 or 4 years old and we lived across the street from my school, so every morning he would walk me to school. He was such a big man and incredibly tall to me at that time. I remember looking up at his back while we walked.

It was cold and I was all bundled up and I could barely breathe. I had asthma and so I was struggling to catch up to him while trying to catch my breath.

He has asthma too, and he looked back at me, and I’m confident he understood that I was struggling, so he picked me up and put me on his shoulders.

The relief and safety felt at that moment was everything.

I will hold on to this memory for the rest of my life because my daddy passed away not too long after that. His memory and this memory are priceless to me.