prayers were answered when she had her twins Ekua Osei and Kweku Osei three years later in 2009. Now 13 years old and vibrant, the twins easily tower over her but the glint in her big eyes shows a deep gratitude to God. She is the loudest cheerleader when her kids are playing sport. Watching her pace on the sidelines on gamedays you suspect she doesn’t have the faintest idea about rules of basketball, football, soccer, and volleyball, but compensates that with a mother’s unfailing support; win or lose. Her eyes well up from the anguish of losing Naasei, but in 2015 that grief gave her a new energy and purpose to start a charity that distributes diapers to mothers with premature babies in Ghana. She has relied on the donations of many friends to support hundreds of premature babies from deprived communities in Ghana. “Perhaps I could use charity as a jump off board into philanthropy when I retire” she often says. At 50 though, retirement and philanthropy can hold off in the distance because now the girl from Tema is busy driving Diversity and Inclusion at Best Buy. As a Senior Director for D&I at the Minneapolis based Fortune 500 company, Judy is a pivotal voice in the company’s strategy to manage an expansive pool of employees from all cultures and backgrounds. After many years in the corporate space Judy has not hit her ceiling yet. “I love my job” she quipped quietly as she clicks quickly through a packed calendar to schedule a meeting with a mentee. She still finds time to mentor young people, especially young African kids who buffered by the sacrifices of their first-generation parents often lose perspective under the weight of living up to their parents’ expectation and fitting into American life.” Judy still goes back home to El Paso, but its welcoming ambience left when the family matriarch who created that lively space passed on two years ago. The neighborhood kids still bounce about on the dusty foreground but are probably unaware that this used to be a hub for live-band music and good food. And that brings a mixture of happy memories and sadness which she struggles to shake off whenever she looks at her mother’s faded black and white picture on her wall in her Minneapolis home. As she nears her 50th birthday, Judy holds on to her mother’s words as her own motherhood matures and endures for her twins. “Judy as long as you have God, resilience, love-of-neighbor and life you will be fine.” 55 The Birthday Journal
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTAyMTM3NQ==