One Last Call -- All My Life

On March 7, 2025 at 2:29pm, I made my last call to my Charming Hubby's phone to hear the ringtone he had for my call. The lyrics are many of the things he said to me, years before the song was released. I have heard the song on my car radio many times since his transition on January 10, 2025 and every time I smile and sing along.

All My Life

(song by KC and Jojo)

Baby, baby, baby, baby

Ooooooh

I'm so glad

I will never find another lover
Sweeter than you
Sweeter than you

And I will never find another lover
More precious than you
More precious than you

Girl you are
Close to me you're like my mother
Close to me you're like my father
Close to me you're like my sister
Close to me you're like my brother

And you are the only one, my everything
And for you this song I sing

All my life
I prayed for someone like you
And I thank God
That I
That I finally found you

All my life
I prayed for someone like you
And I hope that you feel the same way too
Yes, I pray that you do love me too

I'd so thankful that I'm thinking of
Baby
Said I promise to never fall in love
With a stranger
You're all I'm thinking of
I praise the Lord above
For sending me your love
I cherish every hug
I really love you

All my life (ohhhh, baby, baby)
I prayed for someone like you
And I thank God
That I
That I finally found you
All my life
I prayed for someone like you
And I hope that you feel the same way too
Yes, I pray that you do love me too

You're all that I've ever know
When you smile all my face always seems to glow
You turned my life around
You picked me up when I was down

You're all that I've ever known
When you smile my face glows
You picked me up when I was down
Say, you're all that I've ever known
When you smile my face glows

You picked me up when I was down
And I hope that you
Feel the same way too
Yes, I pray that you do love me too

All my life
I prayed for someone like you
And I thank God
That I
That I finally found you

All my life
I prayed for someone like you
Yes, I pray that you do love me too

All my life
I prayed for someone like you
And I thank God
That I
That I Finally Found You

All my life
I prayed for someone like you
Yes, I pray that you do love me too
All my life
I prayed for someone like you
And I thank God
That I
That I Finally Found You

Songwriters: Rory A. Bennett / Jojo Hailey

All My Life lyrics © Emi April Music Inc., Cord Kayla Music, Hee Bee Dooinit Music, 2 Big Prod Inc, 2 Big Prod., Inc., 2 Big Prod Inc.

Copyright © 2025 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.

My February 2023

        My month began in Morrow, Georgia (outside of Atlanta). February 2-4, 2023, I attended a 3-day event presented by the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society Metro Atlanta Chapter and the Georgia Archives. The theme was "African Americans in Georgia: Education, History, and Genealogy". This was my first visit to an archive and to say I was overwhelmed is an understatement. However, I did achieve my main goal which was to see a copy of the original will of Bozeman Adair, the enslaver of some of my Washington family: Sylvia, Elijah, and Ned.

In the photo below I am looking through the vertical files. I went through all files with my Georgia surnames and locations.

February 2, 2023

After two days of presentations focused on education and history, I was one of the AAHGS-Atlanta members who were scheduled to present a genealogy workshop. There were two genealogy tracks -- Track 1: Genealogy Basics and Track 2: African American Genealogy in Georgia. My presentation, "Document Analysis/Evaluations & Timelines" was in Track 1.

On February 11th, I also gave the presentation to the Buffalo Genealogy Society of the African Diaspora (BGSAD), my local genealogy group, during our monthly meeting. 

Genealogy presentation at the Georgia Archives, Morrow GA
February 4, 2023

        On December 22, 2022, storyteller Rosalind Campbell Hunter and I were scheduled to give a workshop on beginning storytelling to art students working on the project --  "Sharing Our View 25th Anniversary: The Art of Storytelling" -- under the direction of local African American artists, John Baker and James Cooper II. The date of our presentation was the last day of school before the Christmas break; however, due to forecast of heavy snow weather conditions all extra-curricular activities were canceled. Our presentation wasn't at a school, but it was an afterschool activity, and no students came for this scheduled session. Thanks to cellphone technology, Rosalind and I were recorded so the students could be shown our presentation at a later date. 

When I attended exhibit opening on February 10, 2023, at the Birchfield Penney Art Center (Buffalo NY), I was pleasantly surprised to see that the images of Rosalind and I were part of the exhibit.

Birchfield Penney Art Center, Buffalo NY
February 10, 2023

        On February 25th I gave a Zoom presentation for beginning African American genealogy research to the Gamma Chi Chapter, Inc, of Chi Eta Phi Sorority Inc for their Black History Month meeting. 

"Hello Ms Bush,

Thank you for the excellent presentation on African American Genealogy Research provided to the Gamma Chi Chapter, Inc, of Chi Eta Phi Sorority Inc. Your slide presentation will be posted on our website; thank you for sharing it. Following your presentation, I received numerous comments from our members as to the benefit of this presentation in their personal research.  I too am encouraged to continue my efforts in documenting my family’s history.  

On behalf of our basileus, Mary Walker, the Membership Development Committee, and myself, thank you for donating your time in support of our Black History Month Program.

Sisterly,

Edna Fleming"

        So, the month ended as it began, giving genealogy presentations . . . and the genealogist in me couldn't ask for anything better. 

Copyright © 2023 by Sandra Williams Bush, Ancestor Callings: Georgia and Mississippi Roots. All Rights Reserved.

It's My Turn, Presenting a Genealogy Webinar

On April 21, 2016 I presented my first genealogy webinar --  an introductory session on family history research as part of a webinar series sponsored by the National Association of Black Storytellers (NABS).  I've attended in plenty of genealogy webinars but being on the other side and presenting had me a tad anxious. However once I got into my presentation, time seemed to fly!

While the registration cut-off for the webinar was 50 people, 53 attended. I thoroughly enjoyed both the preparation and presentation. Preparing for this workshop forced me to look at my research in a critical way. It also challenged me to take a hard look at what I knew about genealogy research.

I stressed starting with self, speaking to elders, DOCUMENTATION, and taking it one step at a time. It seems that the webinar sparked interest for some and re-awakened interest for others -- and I've been asked to do a workshop at the NABS Festival and Conference in Philadelphia in November.   YAAAY!

Comments (emails sent directly to me)

"BRAVO! You delivered a stellar presentation tonight. It was simple, clear, and chock full o' goodies. I learned a lot! Thank you!"  -ka

"Thank you! Very good information to get a novice started.  I really appreciated the visuals.  

Hats off to the Education Committee, Sister Sandra, Tahira and the NABS Board that just keeps moving us higher and higher."

Amy 

"THE WEBINAR WAS GREAT!!!

Thanks NABS… Thanks Sandra Williams Bush!  Just got the results back 2 days ago from my DNA sample from Ancestry.com…  This was very timely :-)"

Jackki

Thank you for providing this excellent webinar!
Anne 

Survey for Discovering Your Ancestors (anonymous survey to webinar Organizer)

Presenter: Sandra Williams Bush

Please share comments on the effectiveness of Presenter, Sandra Williams Bush.

Excellent! Sandra spoke slowly and clearly and gave good information. I appreciated the resources she gave.

knowledgeable

Stellar presentation….clear….organized…..interesting….

I cannot begin to express how well Sandra moved this discussion along with professionalism and concise, clear explanations of every aspect of the material she shared. The flow was just perfect so that it was easy to digest all that was imparted. She punctuated her information with in depth explanations and rich resources. Interest was maintained throughout and the topic was thoroughly covered. One is ready to begin!!!

30 Years & Out

from The Challenger, August 5, 2015, Front Page

Well, I'm looking at my draft posts  --  I started this one in August 2015. In the spirit of starting my genealogy journey with me and telling my own story, I finally finished (I think) this post.

After 30 years with the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, it was time to end our relationship.  As with any relationship when it's time, it's time --  and it's never good to prolong the inevitable.  I had a great career that started as a Clerk with the system on August 19, 1985 and I was fortunate to have may good working relationships with colleagues. I also met some great library patrons along the way.

"Get me my flowers while I can yet smell them" is the refrain of many elders in the African American community -- meaning don't wait to celebrate me when I'm dead, do it now so I can see/feel your appreciation for me.

I didn't want a retirement party or any special recognition, but the community spoke and there was a reception given for me at the Frank E. Merriweather, Jr. Library on my last last of employment -- August 21, 2015.  Big thanks go out to former supervisor (retired) and friend, Sharon Jordan Holley, for organizing the reception.

Yvonne M. Harris told her signature story,
"A Perfect Heart"
and presented me with custom-made heart

"Big Momma Boo, storyteller

Proclamation from the NYS Senate presented by
Senator Timothy M. Kennedy, 63rd Senate District

I usually have to sneak pictures of my daughter,
Elizabeth O. Bonds, who doesn't like her picture taken
(in pink top)

With my husband, Joseph Bush

With Kim Johnson, former
Library Page and one of the
first employees I supervised

With Library Director Mary Jean Jakubowski, Sharon Holley

With Yvonne M. Harris, County Legislator Betty Jean Grant
and Sharon Holley

With co-workers Lisa Perry and Fred Stancil

At the podium is Mr. William A. Miles,  Retired Assistant Library Director who hired me as a Clerk 30 years ago.

I was also presented with Proclamations from New York State Assembly, Honorable Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, 141st District; City of Buffalo Common Council, Council President Darius G. Pridgen, and given a copy of the Congressional Record Proceedings and Debates of the 114th Congress, First Session which was read into the Congressional record by Honorable Brian Higgins on August 19, 2015.

But by far, the best part of the day was the fellowship and good wishes of family, friends, co-workers, and the library community! 

Griot Stroll

On Saturday, June 28, 2014 Tradition Keepers: Black Storytellers of Western New York presented a Griot Stroll with several members telling stories about Buffalo's Black History.  I told my mother's story, Evelyn O. Brown, relating to the historical area where we were telling.  Taking the liberty of a storyteller, this is the story I told:

Evelyn O. Brown

          On this stroll you will hear about the famous and the prominent features of the African American influence on this area. I am not famous and I am not prominent. My name is Evelyn Brown and I am one of the first generations of my family born in the north. I was born in Buffalo during the 1930s. Both my parents were born in Mississippi and several members of their families came to northern states during the Great Migration -- this was a period when African Americans moved from the South to the North for better opportunities for them and their children . The were following the great American dream just as European immigrants did went they made it to Ellis Island.

          This area had been home to African Americans since the early 1800s. I was a toddler when the Jessie Clipper Monument was established by the Common Council in 1935. It’s right over there on the corner William Street and Michigan Avenue. Private Clipper was the first Negro soldier from Buffalo to die in World War I. The monument stands in memory of the valiant service of Negroes in all wars . . . take a moment to visit it.

          The Buffalo I grew up in was a segregated city. I grew up in this area in the 1930s and 1940s and I remember when it was a thriving community. And more than that, it was a neighborhood. Children would walk to school together and then back home again at the end of the day. After we did our homework, had dinner, and did our chores, we got to play outside for a while. The boys would play games like stick-ball or marbles. The girls would play games like hopscotch or jump rope. We would play to sing-song rhymes like “Ring-Around the Rosie” and “Miss Mary Mack”.

          Right along this area and down William Street there were drug stores, restaurants, candy stores, cleaners, hotels, nightclubs, funeral parlors. We didn’t have to leave the community for anything. We certainly need to go downtown; of course most of the stores downtown didn’t want Negroes in them anyway unless we were the cleaning staff. That’s pretty much how I ended up working at the Michigan Avenue YMCA. I had a secretarial diploma from high school. My typing, shorthand and general clerical skills were very good -- I was at the top of my class; but Negroes weren’t hired to work the front offices of the white businesses and companies.

           Did you know that the Michigan Avenue YMCA was designed by a Black man? His name was John Brent. The Y had an important place in our community -- it was a gathering place, a communal place. It had a cafeteria, gym, swimming pool, barber shop, tailor shop, library; and classrooms, locker rooms, dormitory rooms, and billiard tables. I started going to the Y in high school. Several of my friends and I were members of a girls Hi-Y club. One of my fondest memories was a powerful little woman named Mary Chapelle, who taught us deportment classes -- that is, how to be a lady. There were also similar classes for boys and young men on how to be a responsible members of the community.

          The media did not report our news -- for that we relied on Ebony and Jet magazines. For local news and events we had the Buffalo Star and later the Merriweather family published The Criterion.

          So as I said in the beginning, I am not prominent in Buffalos’ Black history and I’m not famous. The Michigan corridor IS important to Buffalo’s Black history and it was important in my life.  I met my husband, Willis B. Williams, at the Michigan Avenue Y and we dated along the Michigan Avenue corridor.  We were married almost 60 years until he made his transition in 2011.

          My name is Sandra Williams Bush and this is the story of my mother, Evelyn O. Brown.

When I got home later I had two messages from a dna cousin on my mom's side; a branch that she doesn't really know about.  The Stamps family from Mississippi.  Ancestors calling my name . . .

Sandra Williams Bush

Tradition Keepers: Black Storytellers of WNY