Through the ages

I don't know if y'all noticed but a couple of weeks ago I posted a photo of myself. And didn't take it down. First time in three years. Now I'm feeling all kinds of fearless. So now I take you through the evolution of an Empress. I had a hard time choosing photos since I didn't want to overload y'all. This is only about half of what I found. And maybe one day I'll post the photo of me in the tiara. But not today.


My parents have always called this my Stevie Wonder look.


I just couldn't choose -- kind of like the whole divorce thing -- so I knew that both had to be included.


My parents should have taken this as a warning. In my partygirl days, I loved to wear a mini with black knee boots. Don't ask about the rest of the accessories.


Disneyland with mom. Although you can't see her face, I think we both look cute as hell. Even if our clothing would have become one with our skin if it had caught flame.


My typical look in high school.


For a brief while in those days, I turned into something that now reminds me of The Breakfast Club. And yeah, there was a date stamp on the back of the photo. Apparently some time in the last half of my senior year of high school.


College days. The coat did not work with San Diego. My grandma was in the photo with me but I decided to edit her out. Especially since we were sitting across the street from the Bambi Club. My mother thought that this would be a funny photo given that my grandma is hardcore Pentecostal.


One of those perfect days. When I look at this, I feel the peace and ease that I felt that day all over again.


Or maybe I was just recovering in the previous photo since I know that this was from before that day.


I told y'all I used to party a lot. We thought that we were sassy as hell.


Father's Day in San Francisco -- 1995.


My uncle's funeral in 2001 -- right before I stepped on the ant hill.


Family reunion in Alabama in 2004. Sitting in the pool because there were ant hills around. And I remembered my last encounter with an ant hill.

The shocking thing for me is how many photos I found as I went digging through the box. Yes, I have a banker's box filled with photos. I have spent decades running from cameras. But if you want to see photos from my current decade, you're better off checking on other blogs. Because the number of photos for this decade are few and far between.

And why today of all days for this post? Because it's a kind of special day. The kind of day that makes me want to remember where I've been.