NNPA NEWSWIRE — I was trained to fight by my grandmother, Mamie Bland Todd. She would often remind me, “Pessimists are right more often, but optimists win more often.” “In this life you have to decide what’s more important to you.” Then she would add, “As for me, I’ll take winning.” My favorite optimist died recently at 105. For our family, she was the last living link to our story of origin in antebellum Southern Virginia.

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