Crushed Ice: A Memoir

Imagine growing up in a small Southern town surrounded by sugarcane fields, snakes, alligator-infested canals, and palm trees. Imagine growing up in a city where most people struggle financially, where the nearest grocery store is five miles away, where there is no hospital, where there is only one traffic light, and where most people know one another. Can you imagine growing up in a family that has many secrets that could either destroy family ties or create bonds that could last a lifetime? Welcome to Latangela Coleman-Crossfield's family secrets, incest, murder, and lies.It was once easy for Latangela to conclude that she was the culprit of her "demise." After all, her mother often told her that she would not amount to a hill of beans, that she was nothing, and that she would never be anything. She sometimes believes these perceptions yet struggles to conceive them as reality. Latangela toils with succumbing to the harshness of her circumstances.Perhaps it could be that she was once a great pretender, pretending as if being raped; molested; and physically and verbally abused by a neighbor, her uncle, her babysitter, and her mother had in no way influenced the choices that she made. Latangela sometimes jolts and cringes as she recalls experiencing uninvited fondling, kisses, rape, electric-cord beatings, abortion, the murder of her stepfather, homelessness, and so much more. Indeed, the recollection of these former days brings tears to her eyes yet joy to her heart as she discovers that she is not to blame for these atrocities.Unforgiveness is her psychological prison cell. It is in this cell that Latangela allows herself to succumb to the pain and agony of her past. Latangela's life changes when she has a supernatural encounter with Jesus Christ. She realizes that forgiveness is the key to victory. She learns to forgive her predators and herself for the poor choices that led to homelessness and unhealthy relationships. In doing so, the emotional prison cell that once held her captive ceases to exist.Through prayer and supplication, God gives her the wisdom, knowledge, and grace to separate agape love for her mother and her abusers from their indiscretions. Latangela's life experiences do not prevent her from becoming an educator, an author, a minister, a media personality, an actress, and a serial entrepreneur. She plans to one day travel the globe to share how she was crushed but not defeated.0