Originally posted on Facebook on Saturday, July 3, 2021.

In Week 27 of 52 Weeks of Gratefulness, I give thanks for Lannie Spann McBride.

“I am a promise. I am a possibility. I am a promise with a capital ‘P’. I am a great big bundle of Po-ten-ti-ality…”

Many may know Lannie Spann McBride as an award winning singer, musician, writer and actress, but I came to know her as my music teacher at G.N. Smith Elementary school in Jackson, Mississippi. And, one of the things I remember most vividly was her kind, warm spirit as she taught our class the tune "I am a promise."

Even as I hum the tune today, an involuntary smile stretches across my face. I can still see Mrs. McBride in that music class. She would often snatch her hands away from the piano between chords and motion with both hands, drawing a big smile across her face, instructing the class to smile as we sung -all without missing a beat. She told us that smiling affected the music. But in truth, as I’m sure she knew, it affected us more. It was her influence that led to my playing piano in elementary, violin in middle school and competing in classical voice as a junior and senior in high school. Though my path would not ultimately lead to music, she forever changed the trajectory of my life. Because, she made me believe the words of that song. I'm grateful. #52WoG