My story

By the time I was born in 1978, my mom's 3 oldest son's Melvin, Jr. 20, Terrance 19, and Rory 18 were grown and on their own. Marcus was 13, Troy was 11, and Courtney was 4. I am the baby 🍼 of the family so I got picked on a lot by my older brothers. I was a shy, quiet, and soft-spoken little boy. No one really knew how I was going to turn out. As I got older, I went from being shy, quiet, and soft-spoken to more talkative.

I was a follower but no ordinary follower. There are leaders, followers, and followers who have potential to be leaders. There were times that I followed and they're times I stood out. I never went to jail or got arrested nor went to juvenile detention centers. I knew not to go to jail because my mom told everyone of us 7 boys that if we go to jail, she wasn't bailing anyone of us out of jail. Mom said, "I will come visit you but that's it because it's the choices that you make whether good or bad, you will have to suffer the consequences for your actions."

I think what shocked people about me is how amazed they were to see someone like me who endured being laughed at, made fun of, and often times discouraged from others who never thought that I would be successful. My mom kept me in church. Me and Courtney went to church with mom since me and Courtney was 2 months old. I can remember when I was a little boy how it looked like I was going to turn out to be a knucklehead. The church we attended Full Gospel Interdenominational church in Downtown Manchester showed us love. 

I acted out because my mom and my dad divorced when I was only 3 going on 4 in 1982. I was happy and sad at times. I used to be really quiet at home but acted up in Sunday school and in school. I often wondered why my mom and dad wasn't together anymore. Whenever the social worker at school would ask me if everything was alright, I often said it's okay but it bothered me why my parents split up since I started Kindergarten. If you grew up in a single parent home like me, then you would understand what I'm talking about.

I lived in Hartford for 14 years and been in Bloomfield now going on 31 years. Time has gone by so much, it's hard to believe how these days, weeks, months, and years have flown by. I was thought of as someone that people didn't know whether or not if I would graduate from high school. 🏫 I was the type of person if they needed to get an A in order to pass a class I was able to do it. It's not recommended but that seemed to be a way of life for me. I was also the type of student, who would get all the hard questions on a quiz or test correct but miss some of the easiest questions on that same test or quiz.

I never wanted to take credit for being smart 🤓 so I often hid being smart, so it would be easier for people to think I didn't know or understand my schoolwork or even understand what was going on. I couldn't make friends easily so my true friends in school were thugs. No, I didn't grow up to be a thug, I helped them with their schoolwork, and they had my back when people tried to mess with me. I was often compared to my brother Courtney because Courtney always got A's and B's from Kindergarten- 12th grade.

People started to realize if I would have focused more in school, like Courtney did, I not only would have gotten A's and B's like Courtney did in school, I would've been viewed most likely to succeed like Courtney was. I was calm, persevered, and did my best under pressure. Most people would've given up and quit but I stuck with school and graduated high school and stuck with college and graduated from Community college. I'm the only one in my family who graduated with some college degree and that's fine. My older brothers know that it's never too late if any of them wanted to go back to school and finish college. 

Till this day, I continue to stand out and be that follower who shows everyone else the potential I have to be a leader. Not all leaders are good leaders, not all followers are good followers, and not all followers show potential to be good leaders. The best way to be a good leader is to stand out and lead by example. That's a little bit more of my biography. There is more to come. God Bless You!

More to come about me

 There is a whole lot about me that I will share.  Some of it go back since I was only 5 years old. My 40 years of being a Christian will come up soon. June 5, 1983 is when my life changed and I have a lot of journals to write about talking about the different experiences that I've been through. It all began in 1978 when I was born where me, along with my older brother Courtney who was 4 years old at the time, and my mom went to Full Gospel Interdenominational church in Downtown Manchester, CT.

Free speech on all topics is about expressing yourself and even ✍️ writing about personal experiences. There will be a lot of journaling so keep an eye out for it. There will even be a paper 📜 that I wrote in Creative Writing class back 🔙 in 2005 titled "A Letter To Paul Brightly."

Lastly, I don't mind sharing all of this because it will show how far I've come. We learn a lot about ourselves during good, bad, and ugly experiences in our life. I'm just grateful for a platform like this to not be ashamed to express myself and hopefully I can inspire others to do the same. God Bless You!

A Mother's Love 💕

 In a previous blog I mentioned about my brother Troy the wayward boy. Well in January of 1996 Troy applied for a trucking job in Clifton, TN. Troy got hired on the spot. The boss trusted Troy and let Troy stay with him. The guy could sense that Troy had a good upbringing. Troy would deliver packages and he would get paid for the mileage he drove while doing this particular job.

After about 2 weeks, the boss trusted Troy to watch the business and the money. What the boss didn't know is that Troy doing good lasted for 2 weeks, Troy had a criminal record that go back in the early 80's, and "played out" with family when Troy ripped family off. Troy stole the money and stole the boss's truck 🚛 and drove the truck into a ditch.

Troy didn't get sent back like Troy did when Troy ripped off family like normal. The boss called the cops. Troy was handcuffed but not without resisting arrest and cussing at the cops. Troy was taken to Clifton correctional where Troy resisted arrest there too and they recommended that Troy be sent to boot camp in Clifton. Troy would have 4 long months in boot camp. Troy messed up big and it was in the wrong state to mess up in.

Troy wrote mom from boot camp in Clifton. Mom wrote Troy back. After months had gone by Troy could remember all that mom had done for him and all of us 7 boys that came out of our mom's womb. After the 4 months of Troy having to get up at 4 AM doing push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, squats, jogging, etc., mom could see what Troy had been through. Troy even sent mom a pic of him and the drill Sargent from boot camp. Once Troy had completed boot camp, he was sent back to Clifton correctional.

Meanwhile, the Clifton correctional police officer called my mom and said, "Ms. Grady we have your son Troy here in jail. The only way we will let Troy out of jail is if Troy stay with you or Troy will get life in jail!" Mom pleaded, "Troy can stay with me, please don't give him life." Mom called her other son Marcus in Los Angeles, CA and told Marcus that Troy is coming home from boot camp in Clifton, TN May of 1996. Marcus responded, "Ma, how could you let that boy stay with you after all the trouble he has caused you?" Mom answered, "The police officer said the only way that they would let Troy out of jail is if I let him stay with me or they would give Troy life in jail." Marcus remember the times how Troy used to runaway from home, how he ripped mom and Marcus off, and how Troy cussed mom out in a letter ✉️ so bad that mom had to tear  up the letter and put it in the garbage. 🗑️ 

Marcus had given a profound reply, "It is only a Mother's Love 💕 that would allow that boy to stay up there with you." Marcus is 💯 correct! No matter what things we say or do mom will always do all she can to try to help even when she have to show us "Tough Love." Mom thought that what Troy endured at boot camp and in Clifton correctional was enough punishment. Mom had sent one more letter to Troy in boot camp in Clifton before Troy was sent back to Hartford on a plane. The letter was sent back and said "returned back home" on it. Well, I thought I would share this story. To all of the mom's single, married, divorced, and widowed out there Happy Mother's Day! 

A Wayward Boy story

It was approximately in November of 1969 when my mom had given her life to Jesus Christ. My mom was only 26 going on 27 years old when she had five boys (Melvin, Jr., 11, Terrance 10, Rory 9, Marcus 4, and Troy 2). My mom had my older brothers before my older brother Courtney was born (1974) and before I was born (1978). My mom was married to the 3 oldest son's father from 1958-1970 but mom and her first husband was separated from 1960-1970 before they divorced. My mom would take her and her five boys to church.

Gradually when a few sets of boys got into trouble they would go to juvenile detention centers for running away from home, doing drugs when they were minors, and my mom having to go to court because her minor sons were breaking curfew to run the streets in Hartford. When Marcus and Troy were born my mom was a single mom. Mom had lived in dilapidated unfit apartments where my mom and her 5 boys were evicted because the places were roach 🪳 and rat🐀 infested because of slumlord landlords. Then mom and her five boys lived in the projects for 11 months in Bellevue Square in Hartford with her 5 boys from 1972 till 1973 and in 1974 my mom and her 5 boys one of the times stayed at the 🦩 Flamingo Inn in Hartford on the Wilson Windsor line with her five boys when she was pregnant with Courtney.

Troy at 7 started running away from home. Troy was told that he was the baby by his older brothers Melvin, Jr., Terrance, Rory, and Marcus. Troy was brought home in squad cars. My mom even got counseling for Troy and the psychologist said to my mom that the reason why Troy was running away from home so much was because Troy was jealous of Courtney and there were no father figure in Troy's life. At that time my mom had remarried and was married to my father in 1974. Courtney, the baby 🍼 at the time could have easily thought that my father was his father but my mom told Courtney that my father was not his father. My mom and my father divorced when I was 3 going on 4 in 1982.

Troy ran away from home so much that Marcus almost lost his life so many times looking for Troy on the streets in Hartford. There was a 2-year age difference between Troy and Marcus. Troy was always bigger and stronger than Marcus even though Marcus was older than Troy. Troy at 13 became unruly and my mom felt that what was best is that she send Troy to Long Lane reform school in Middletown. 

Rory taught Troy how to steal when Troy was little and Troy and his girlfriend Missy at the time would escape from Long Lane and rob all the neighbors and mom's house in Hartford. Troy and his girlfriend got to the place where they were robbing mom's house so much that they would steal food out of the refrigerator while mom was at work. One time Marcus at 17 saw Troy at 15 almost lost his hand breaking in the window to rob mom while she was at work.  Marcus was terrified and afraid of Troy because Troy is 6' 2" and Marcus is 5' 8." Troy learned how-to beat-up Marcus when Troy was 5 going on 6 and when Marcus was 7 going on 8. Troy one time slashed all 4 of mom's car tires.

Troy slept in so many areas where Marcus went to look for Troy in the following: The woods, bushes, dumpsters, garbage cans, floors of abandoned schools, floors of bars, floors of Janitor's closets, and Troy once slept in a floor of a murder's house when Troy was only 7. Troy, Rory, and Terrance were the main ones that got into trouble. Troy kept mom praying for Troy the most because mom didn't know where Troy was for 10 years. Troy at 14 almost lost his life twice.  The first time Troy almost lost his life when Troy went on a joy ride in a stolen car. Troy was going 90 miles in the car outrunning the cops. Troy crashed in the stolen car and turned over in the car 3 times with Troy upside down in the car. Troy went to the doctor and the doctor told Troy that Troy's neck was broke. My mom called the prayer tower at Full Gospel Interdenominational church in Manchester to pray for Troy because Troy was in a terrible car accident and the doctor pronounced that Troy's neck was broke. Mom and the church prayed that Troy's neck would be totally healed, and Troy's neck was normal, and all Troy had was his 2 front teeth missing and his knees was scraped with cuts from the car wreck.

Another time Troy almost lost his life at 14 was when Troy went swimming in a swimming pool. Troy jumped into the pool and Troy went down under drowning in the pool. There were no lifeguards in sight. A woman came out of nowhere and jumped into the swimming pool and pulled Troy out of the pool. The woman began to do CPR on Troy until she got a pulse. Troy was coughing and came to. It was nothing but prayer that kept Troy alive. Troy would continue to do what he did with the different influences in his life (mainly the different girlfriends and Rory) which caused Troy to do bad things like steal to do drugs. Troy was the type of person when he looked for a job, Troy would get hired on the spot. Troy would be given 2nd chances to prove he had changed and for 2 weeks, it seemed like Troy was on the right path to better himself. Troy found work when he went to Miami, FL in 1980 when he stayed with my grandparents. After 2 weeks, Troy would steal from family and he would get sent back to Hartford, CT on a plane.

In 1983, Troy decided it would be best for him if he left Hartford and go to Detroit, MI and stay with Terrance and Betty (Toni) our older brother and his wife (our sister-in-law). Troy had missed his partner in crime girlfriend Missy but thought he would start all over when Troy went to Detroit. For 2 weeks everything went really well. Terrance and Toni were talking about having Troy get his records from Hartford and move to Detroit and attend the University of Michigan like when Terrance did when he left Hartford and moved to Detroit. Well, Terrance influenced Troy to break in the house and rob Toni while Troy was in Detroit. Terrance even helped Troy rob Toni because Terrance was doing drugs, too. This really upset Toni so much what Troy did, so Toni sent Troy on a plane back to Hartford. Troy was a follower and usually that is what followers do, they follow and do what leaders tell them to do or even listen to followers like them.

Meanwhile, Troy almost lost his life at 17 going on 18. Troy was at a subway station at the Port Authority in Manhattan, NY in 1985. Troy had on a fur coat, and what they will do to people that have anything of value at the stations is steal or in Troy's case cut the fur coat off of him with Troy in it and mugged him for his fur coat. Troy was stabbed and shot at and Troy had to go to a hospital in Manhattan. Troy had to get 67 stitches for his face, Troy had a big chunk of his arm cut from the knife wounds, and Troy was shot in the leg. A nurse was able to call my mom from the Manhattan hospital. She told my mom that Troy had been in a coma for 3 days and woke up and that Troy was mugged at the Port Authority subway station. The nurse felt that my mom needed to know even though she wasn't supposed to release that info because Troy was no longer considered a minor. 

Courtney and mom went to the Manhattan hospital and Courtney located where Troy was. Me and Marcus was home. Marcus was a high school graduate, who attended San Diego school of Medicine when he enlisted in the Navy Reserves. Marcus from the training he learned doctored on Troy getting the first aid kit. Marcus took out all of the stitches in Troy's face and got big towels that were bloodied after Marcus bandaged Troy. Troy was staying with us for 2 weeks until Troy got well. Troy even had me making hamburgers and fries on my 7th birthday that same year in 1985. Me and Troy played some games of checkers. When Troy got a letter from Rory in jail, Troy went out into the streets. About a little over a month later Troy broke in the house and robbed us while we were at church. Troy left his signature YMCA on the wall in the dining room because that was where Troy was at, at the time. Troy had stolen mom's hair products, all of Marcus's clothes, and a handcrafted money bank with money in it that Courtney made for mom in school. Marcus had to go to work in his Navy uniform. Mom had to put in a police report and the police went down to the YMCA where Troy was, and they arrested Troy and Troy did jail time.

Troy was given a chance after serving jail time from 1984-1986.Troy got his GED while being locked up in Chesire in 1985.  In 1987, my cousin Myra sent for Troy on a bus to stay with her in Plant City, FL. Troy was doing good for 2 weeks while working and staying with my cousin in Plant City. After 2 weeks, Troy robbed my cousin; her, and 2 other cousins got enough money from their father (my uncle), and they all pitched in and got a bus ticket and sent Troy back to Hartford. It seemed like the 2 weeks of Troy doing good and messing up after 2 weeks was a habit Troy found himself in consistently. Troy would work but would steal to get drugs. The drug addiction and growing up in a single parent home for inner city children seemed to be a habit. 

Troy would be given a 2nd chance when he stayed with Marcus in 1989 in Los Angeles, CA. For 2 weeks Troy worked and did good. Troy broke in Marcus's house and robbed Marcus. Marcus sent Troy back on a train to Hartford. Troy can honestly say that that was his worst experience being sent back. It takes approximately 2 days and 16 hours from Los Angeles to Hartford by train. Troy would leave the state again when he went to Clifton, TN. After Troy left from bootcamp in Clifton he came back to Hartford and stayed with me and my mom in Bloomfield in 1996. Troy moved to Orlando, FL in 1996, been in Orlando 27 years now and Troy is married to Paula his 2nd wife and they have been married for 20 years now. Troy went from being a wayward boy, to a car detailer, and now retired. Every parent or parents have a wayward son/sons or daughter/daughters in their family. For those parents that have prodigal sons and daughters, I hope this story encourages you. Well, that is all for free speech on all topics, till next time keep an eye out for more blogs like this. God Bless You!

Long Lane Reform School Middletown, CT

Chesire Correctional Institution Chesire, CT

Free Speech and Expression

 I can truly say that free speech and expression is vital and important today. I first created free speech on all topics back in April of 2022 because I thought it was important to express my experiences being on message boards and social media. First off, I started off on message boards back in 2004. I was on Yahoo NBA basketball and NFL football message boards from 2004-2006. Like social media there were trolls on message boards. People would use their email handle to post comments and create threads. Haters were encouraged to create a section talking bad about a basketball team or football team that they disliked. This experience became a toxic experience when more and more haters would post on threads on the message boards.

Secondly, I would go from the sports message boards to the American Idol message board from 2006-2007. The threads were different and different users would post on threads about their favorite American Idol contestants from Seasons 1-6. In message boards, people used avatars of pics of their favorite Idol contestants or their own pics and used a handle name of their choice. Haters would come on there and troll around on the AI message boards. Whenever anyone was on the AI message boards, they were told not to reply to trolls on there or their accounts would be suspended or banned like the trolls. Whenever anyone got banned on AI message boards, he or she had to have one of their friends write an email to the CEO to get them reinstated. I've done that for a hand full of my friends who was sent to "banned camp" on the message boards. 

In 2007, I was introduced to Myspace from a friend who was on the American Idol message boards, who I chatted with because message boards became very toxic at that point. People began to lose interest on the message boards and message boards started to implode. Myspace became popular, when I was at Capital Community college in 2005. A lot of classmates at Capitol Student News (CSN) was bragging about how cool Myspace was at the time. I was very reluctant to go on Myspace because, I was still on message boards at that time, and I heard about how people's accounts were phished and hacked on Myspace. The big difference between message boards and social media is that you can't see a person when they spew out hatred because they use avatars and handle names on message boards. On social media for the most part, people use their own pics. If you say something on social media, you are very likely going to eventually run into someone face-to-face that you had spewed hatred towards more than if you were on message boards. Nowadays, people hide behind a computer screen because they would be afraid to confront the person face-to-face that they had the "beef" with.  

I was on Myspace, and it was a whole lot different from message boards. There were music bands, couples, singles, single couples, and on your Myspace page you can create a layout, music, about me, who you would like to meet, heroes, TV, and movies, etc., and everyone was excited whenever they would see a green light on anyone's name who was on the social media site. Tom Anderson was the President of Myspace at the time, and he was part of the welcoming committee, and you would automatically become friends with Tom. Myspace started to go downhill after Tom sold it in 2010. Myspace had less layouts to choose from and Myspace started to become restricted. I eventually deleted my Myspace account in 2012 after the up-and-coming site became like Google+ and a music band bought Myspace and made Myspace unusable. I briefly got Myspace back in 2013 and after one year, I noticed the once enjoyable social media site became trash and not worth being on anymore.

In 2011, I started blogging about my experiences when I signed up on blogger from 2011-2012. I signed up on wix.com and created an account from 2012-2016. I went back to blogger in 2017. I signed up on Tumblr in 2016-present and started blogging from 2018-2022 when I created a secondary profoundfictionstories.tumblr.com on it. I have created a Weebly account from 2019-present. I'm now back on blogger from 2022-present. I've had a rocky experience on message boards, social media, and going through creating websites when other free websites changed their guidelines. I went on Twitter from 2011-2012, from 2012-2013, and from 2013-2021. I went on Facebook from 2010-2011 and 2014-2021, and lastly, I went on Instagram from 2019-2022. There is so much to say about how rocky Twitter, FB, and Instagram was that I couldn't even begin to tell it all in this blog. However, those social media sites became so toxic that I had to permanently delete my accounts for good. Well, that's all for free speech on all topics till next time, keep an eye out for more blogs like this. God Bless You!

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders Delivers 2023 Republican Respon...

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders response to Joe Biden's state of the union speech was a "breath of fresh air." The new generation of Republicans have Generation Xers like Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, Congressman Matt Gaetz, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, etc., in leadership. As a generation Xer myself, I'm proud the way these group of Republicans hold those in leadership accountable. It's not just a talking point to them, it's a way of life because they are in leadership and proudly serve their constituents. Now Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders in 15 minutes dismantled Joe Biden's one hour and 12 minutes state of the union speech. I did not watch Biden's speech because I know that Fake President's speech would be full of bold face lies.  

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders in a really elegant way said that she didn't believe anything that Biden said when he gave the speech. Since the Biden administration was installed the WH, in the past 2 years there has been nothing but division, inflation, and chaos going on in our country. The media refuses to cover it. The media cover stories that try to make Fake President look good and our real President Donald J. Trump look bad. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders gave a powerful uniting speech. Governor Sanders talked about how God healed her from thyroid cancer and she was cancer free after successful surgery. Governor Sanders mom got a bad report from the doctor when she was in her 20's when she had been married 1 year to her father former Governor Mike Huckabee that she would never walk and if she did walk she wouldn't be able to have any children. Governor Sanders proudly talked about how the Lord healed her mom and how her mom had a daughter, who is the first woman and the youngest woman to be elected Governor in the "Natural State" of Arkansas. 

Democrats, Republicans, and Independents see how our country is in the gutter. It's no secret. Governor Sanders talks about how the left is being hijacked. No matter how you look at it, inflation is the reason why our economy is terrible in the US. Empty shelves in grocery stores, the low unemployment being only 3.5%; we all know is misinformation because they are not polling people who quit their jobs because they said "Hell No!" to the vaccine mandates that Fake President implemented. More and more people were told that if they stay home and get government assistance they would get paid more money than if they applied for work and got a job. There is a lot of job vacancies that the media won't cover. There is a lot of job layoffs that the media won't cover. The high gas prices is also due to inflation.  I know it's been a while since I last did a shared free speech on all topics post but I've been busy and I've been waiting to hear Governor Sanders state of the union response. That is all for free speech on all topics, till next time keep an eye out for more blogs like this. God Bless You! 

Pro-Life Woman Arrested For Praying Silently Outside Abortion Center - LifeNews.com

Pro-Life Woman Arrested For Praying Silently Outside Abortion Center - LifeNews.com: The U.K. March for Life director was recently arrested after police found her praying silently outside of an abortion clinic, according to a press release by Alliance Defending Freedom U.K. Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, a charity volunteer and Christian, was approached by police officers on Dec. 6 outside of BPAS Robert Clinic in Birmingham, England, and asked […]

This is an example why we have to keep our Ukrainian ally in our prayers. U.K. March for Life director & Christian Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested for silently praying outside a BPAS Robert Clinic in Birmingham, England. Ms. Vaughan was not protesting she was just praying quietly. The woman targeted because is Pro-Life and a Christian. Ms. Vaughan is there to support women who suffered consequences from effects of having abortions. 

I believe if Ms. Vaughan was a Pro-abortion and a non-Christian she wouldn't have been targeted or arrested. Praying silently to yourself is not grounds for arrest nor being targeted ever. The is a spiritual battle between good and evil. 

UK President Volodymyr Zelenskky came to Washington DC tonight and gave a profound speech that was about a little over thirty minutes long. The message is simple, we have to continue to help our ally because the UK is our ally. During the challenging times when Russia was at war with the UK, the UK wanted the US to help combat Russian troops with armed airplanes. President Zelenskky believe that his country is victorious because an exhausted Russian President Vladimir Putin couldn't conquer the UK. The whole ordeal that woman went through getting arrested for praying is why we have to continue to 🙏 for our allies like the UK. That is all for shared articles on free speech on all topics, keep an eye out for more blogs like this. God Bless You!