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My --- Journey W
here do you see yourself in ten years? If someone asked me that five years ago, I would have never thought I’d be where I am now. Would I change anything about my life? Absolutely not! I believe my journey was specifically designed just for me. The choices I’ve made to retire from the USN to homeschool my two sons, leave my 20-year marriage to start my life over in my fifties, choose to write for a living instead of continuing my air traffic control career, moving from the city to the country woods, and my choice to live single instead of coupled have all played a part in my transformation to the woman I AM. I love myself and the woman I’ve become. I love my mouth and confidence (men say I’m too much), my introverted and controlling ways, and even my twisted way of thinking. I’m not the average woman and I own that. I know I’m different. I evolved through a 20-year marriage, two children, a naval career, divorce, financial struggles, grandsons, health issues, friendships, and of course my relationships with men - although few were quite impactful. I’m grateful for every experience and every person I’ve crossed paths with on my journey of life. With that being said, I do my best to respect the journey of other women. Not knowing her path of pain, her silent struggles, traumatic triggers, and the possibly crippling circumstances she’s endured, being a self-appointed judge doesn’t help her at all. It’s best for me to mind my business and stay on the path of my own journey.
laVender shedrick williams Owner, Candy Publishing Creator of The Other Woman
“I’m an imperfect person. Ive let anger, jealousy, all the emotions, get the best of me. If I go into books, word by word, little by little, they help center and re-ground me and put me on the right path. Life is a journey. I’m very focused on the things I do and have learned not to be pressured.” Keith Thurman 4
Life is challenging enough without someone pointing out our faults, and flaws and questioning our life choices. We’re all wired differently and those wires react and respond based on the life we’ve lived - from childhood! So just because you believe something should be done or said one way may not even make sense to another woman. Only one’s Creator knows the intricate workings of their life - mind, body, and soul. Don’t make the dangerous mistake of playing God with someone’s life! I recently learned how unsolicited help and even subtle suggestions can be controlling. Oftentimes, it’s challenging to love and accept ourselves, so to be judged by a stranger, friend or family member can be upsetting. Let’s encourage one another on our personal paths whether we agree with the direction one is going or not. I have to remind myself to trust the process of life and let life happen. This is liberating! A woman’s journey from a young girl to a young woman to a middle-aged woman to a seasoned woman is not easy! Physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually keeping it together as a wife, mother, aunt, daughter, sister, friend, boss, grandmother, caretaker, and all the other hats we wear can be damn draining. Let’s pour into one another and cheer each other on for being the strong, courageous, resilient, often tired-as-hell women we are.
lavender s williams
Volume 4 Issue 1 Don’t Judge Her Journey
Contrary to what you may have been thinking about the image on our cover, it’s not a vagina. It’s an image of the inside of a rose. The rose is one of the world’s most popular flowers. Its unique beauty and distinct scent invites smiles, warms hearts, and helps deliver an endless variety of messages without a word spoken. Similar to a woman, roses come in an array of colors, shapes, and forms – rose bushes, shrub roses, blush roses, climbing roses, miniature roses, and the list goes on and on. There is another remarkable similarity flowers, not just roses, have with a woman which is the reproductive organ, the ovary. Yes, flowers have an ovary! These similarities explain the vagina looking image on our cover title. The flower’s ovary is the hollow cavity containing ovules which is the structure containing the egg cells. You’ll never look at a rose the same way, and as a matter of fact, you may even look at one a little closer, a little deeper. That’s not all. The petals on a rose are modified leaves with a purpose of attracting pollinators like birds and bees. Women aren’t the only ones using our assets to attract. So, while you were thinking we were a little too edgy with our delivery, we were merely dropping a little knowledge on you.
Copyright – The Other Woman is published three times a year by Candy Publishing, an independent publishing company located in Montgomery, AL. Copyright 2020. All materials are protected by copyright laws. No material contained in this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. Contact Candy Publishing ATTN: The Other Woman P.O. Box 9083 Montgomery, AL 36108. Printed in the United States.
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Jon Luke Sauls
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Celebrate Your Self!
Contents
The Other Woman is published three times a year by Candy Publishing. Visit the website to read archived articles on our blog and to meet the team of writers behind TOW.
www.theotherwomanmagazine.com Team TOW
Julia T. Cadenhead (CAPT, CHC, USN (Ret.) 08 Me First
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CHARITY BOWDEN AND SWEET TEA TRIO
Robert L Congress 53 Learn To Human Brittany Leigh Davis 36 Interview with Charity Bowden Lara McKnight 12 The Grand Finale Vernon Watson 46 Navigating A Dry Vagina
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LIFESTYLE 16 Sydni Simmons - College Is A Bumpy Ride 30 Akita Adamson - Back Cover Model 21 Jasmine Morgan - Being A Lesbian
ADULT FILMSTAR
LOVE AND MARRIAGE 20 Stand By Your Man? 45 Emotional Intelligence In Marriage
MONROE SWEETS
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VAGINAL HYGIENE WHY DOES MY VAGINA SMELL?
SEASONED SENIORS 27 Rosie Shedrick - My 82 -Year Journey A MAN’S MIND 50 Single-Ish 52 Smiling Faces ARE YOU STUCK? 22 Sandra Gary Winborne, Ph.D. 7