LeoLin Bowen

“This is what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real.” My home is a cooperative house on the South Side of Chicago.

I am usually introduced to people as “the vegan.” I get it. Vegan is the new “it” word and now you are actually meeting one.

Wonderful son of mine, I am going to let you in on a little secret. Your mother is a liar. In fact, people lie all of the time.

You are about to embark on a journey that you will be talking about and remembering for the rest of your life, so spend these next year’s enjoying it.

What is different now is that I know who I am and what I want. I’m not afraid to be alone and living single. I value my time and my health.

I knew there was still a culture of fear surrounding black people, but this was the first time I had experienced a person scared of black people.

I call it the look. The slight tilt of the head confused look that people give me when they find out that I am the “weekend” parent.

My son had just lost another tooth. When he looked up at me with his big, brown eyes and asked, “Mommy is the tooth fairy real?”

I am not the only one who is running on this hamster wheel of debt. In 2017 Americans had a revolving debt of $1,022 billion. So, dear debt, it's over!