Dear Mr. Joyner,
My name is Sydni Butler and i am a 14-year-old 9th grade honor student and my sister Summer is a 7-year-old 1st grader. We are writing this letter with the help of our grandmother, Jerelyn butler.
Our amazing father, Jason Butler is 37-years-old and has been raising us as a single parent since our mother left us four years ago. At age 18, our father was diagnosed with type i insulin dependent diabetes. He has undergone several eye surgeries recently, started dialysis for kidney failure, and three weeks ago he underwent a second below the knee amputation and is now a double amputee.
This has been difficult for all of us, but we never hear him complain or feel sorry for himself. We know that with god’s help and our dad’s determination he will be back on his feet soon. He will be getting his second prosthesis in about 8 weeks.
Despite these challenges he is still a wonderful father. Between the two of us my sister and i are involved in basketball, soccer, gymnastics, cheerleading, girl scouts, dance and choir. our dad drives us to and from school every day, gets us to our practices and attends all our activities. he helps us with our school work (except my geometry), takes us to church most Sundays and prepares our meals. he can even wash, comb and braid Summer’s hair. He hears our prayers and tucks us into bed every night. He is the best father we could hope for. and he is raising us to be strong, educated, independent black women with a strong sense of family and community.
Our father would never ask for anything for himself because he is always making sure we have everything we need. We would like for him to have a motorized electric scooter to help him get around (to Jackson State University football games) and some new clothes (he recently lost 50 pounds).
p.s. We listen to your show every morning on our way to school and especially like your little known black history facts because we don’t get much of that at our predominately white school.
