Purposes! A Real Love Story

by Anna Kirsch/PNN

Come to Barnes & Noble in Tanforan Mall 1150 El Camino Real in San Bruno Friday September 14 @ 7p.m. to hear Vet read from Purposes!

Vet Williamson has kept a diary for as long as she can remember; a sacred journal describing her most personal experiences and life struggles. Most of which would have been easier for her to forget than re-write, re-tell and share with the world.

But, unlike most, Vet, a race and poverty scholar and former Bayview resident, decided to unearth her painful past and share it in her recently published book, Purposes! A Real Love Story. To do so, years ago Vet began the heart wrenching process of digging back through her old journal entries to create her compelling memoir.

“It was pretty difficult to relive certain circumstances and remembering those feelings, passion and anger, was hard,” says Vet, “but I wanted to offer encouragement and hope to those who may go through some of things I experienced in my life.”

Written as a love letter to Jesus, who Vet wholly credits for her existence and survival, Purposes takes the reader on Vet’s moving journey through life. From drug abuse, racism and homelessness to poverty, welfare and motherhood, Vet writes in a simple, brutally honest manner that the reader can easily empathize with and relate to.

The story begins with Vet’s birth and the extremely close bond she shared with her mother through childhood. “I slept with my mother every night and would pull her arm over me to feel safe,” she writes. We then feel her grief when she loses her mother as a teenager and must support her family while struggling with her father’s alcoholism.

From this moment on the reader connects to Vet and becomes extremely engaged in her words and story.

We learn about the racism she suffered, even within her own race, living as a dark-skinned woman in Cincinnati, Ohio. We read on, as she becomes a teenaged mother in an abusive relationship. We see her life almost completely unravel, as she struggles with an addiction to crack, becomes houseless and survives rape.

Her story is interwoven with biblical passages, quotes and poems, each telling of how she managed to survive and overcome. While Vet credits much of the strength she found to her own community church, she also boldly points out that many churches today don’t operate in love and truth, which she believes are “the only means to set us free.”

Although rooted in Vet’s religious beliefs, Purposes doesn’t preach but openly demonstrates the healing and strength that can be found for many struggling with issues of racism and poverty through Jesus and prayer.

As Vet eloquently stated, “I was able to overcome because of the fact that I had a relationship with God…it was the way he built me, I just don’t know how to give up.”

Vet’s is a story of love and forgiveness and by the end of the book, her strength and courage are undeniable. Her life is a true tale of survival, thrival and resistance.

Purposes! A Real Love Story can be purchased online at amazon.com, as well as at Barnes and Nobles.