Page 51 - Life Legacy Project

Repairer of the Breach Sereta Williams
I have many heroes in my life. They are all meaningful to me for different reasons. My grandma, Sereta Williams, is one of my greatest heroes because of all the important lessons she has taught me. Sereta is courageous, enduring, loving, caring, funny, and a great teacher.
She was born on July 19, 1942, in Detroit, Michigan. Ever since that day, she has been the kind of person who always looks for the good and just keeps going. My grandma was the oldest of five kids. She had to learn how to clean, cook, and take care of kids at an early age due to hard circumstances at home. Her parents got divorced when she was twelve years old. Her grandmother, who she called her Fairy Godmother, helped her and loved her through this hard time. Sereta remembers how her grandmother always took her to do fun things, and when she ran away from home, she would always run to her grandmother’s house. Her grandmother was a costume designer for the University of Utah. She let Sereta come and try on the costumes when she was a little girl. Her grandmother taught her to love music and to never say bad things. She was her biggest role model. As she got older, she started to realize that she wanted to help other children find happy homes, just like she wanted for her future children. When she was twenty-one, she got married and had three children. After a while, she got a divorce and finished school, getting her masters degree. She started investigating child abuse and became a Children and Family social worker. Not long after that, she got married to her current loving husband, Mike Williams. He already had three children. She had many experiences where her children’s daredevil-ness almost gave her a heart attack. She still absolutely loved being a parent, though. She said her favorite thing about being a parent was, “How wonderful my children are. It brings me the most joy in my life. I love to be a parent!”
Sereta is of the Mormon faith and is very faithful in that religion. She says that the experience that has impacted her life the most was being in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS). Her favorite scripture from the Bible is Isaiah 58:8-12. Part of this says, “... thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.” These words have helped her throughout her life because they are telling her that she is not alone. Even though there are trials in life, she can start now and make the difference to change her’s and her family’s future for the better. Sereta really wanted to give her children a better life than she had when she grew up. She chose to make the difference for her family’s future. She chose not to drink, not to swear, and lots of other things. She always tried to have a loving home environment. From then on, every generation in her family’s life has been changed, including her own.
Today, Sereta spends a lot of her time doing what she can to help the world become better. She loves to do service, especially for the sweet people in the nursing homes. She has helped many children get to be in happy, loving families. Sereta gives love and wisdom to her grandchildren. My grandma has taught me many things. This includes bravery, you can change your’s and other’s future if you put your mind to it, help others, and just have faith. She has earned respect from me because she went through an emotionally challenging life and has raised my uncles, aunts, and dad to be amazing people. She has changed the lives positively of everybody in my family, immediate and extended. I admire her bravery and perseverance. Sereta has a strong and resilient spirit and has benefited the community so much. I am so thankful for all she has done for her, and my, family, and the community.
Written by Emma Brownell
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