Did you know Older Americans Month is celebrated in May?
HISTORY
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy and members of the National Council of Senior Citizens met and decided to designate May as Senior Citizens Month to to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of past and current older persons.
When President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Older Americans Act in 1965, the Senior Citizens Month became known as Older Americans Month. Its purpose shifted to highlighting the need for services and community support for older Americans. The Administration for Community Living promotes the annual observance.
HOW I AM CELEBRATING OLDER AMERICANS MONTH
This year, my dad, Dr. John F. Leeke and I are celebrating Older Americans Month by encouraging folks who are over 60 to share and document their life stories and lessons learned with their family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, community, fellow club/church/group/service organization members, and/or online network in small, medium, and big ways.
During the discussion, we shared why Hagerstown is important to our Leak/Leek family history in America. In the early 1840s, Peter and Catherine Leak/Leek and their 14 children escaped slavery via the Underground Railroad and traveled approximately 410 miles to freedom in Amherstburg, Canada. Leonard Leak/Leek, my father’s great-grandfather was one of Peter and Catherine’s sons. Read his obituary below.
My dad also shared life stories that highlighted the importance of his lesson #2: Relationships are essential to your development and the impact you make on the world. His sharing sparked a discussion lively discussion among audience members.
FYI Chapter 22 in American Change Agent is entitled “A Legacy Gift for You: Lessons Learned.” It contains his top 10 lessons.
Many thanks to Dr. Genie Massey and the Maryland League of Women Voters for organizing the event.
Special thanks to Melissa and Bryan Noel, owners of Next Chapter Cafe’ & Book Shop, and their amazing team for hosting the event.
A deep bow of gratitude to my brother Matt for taking photos and recording videos during the book discussion.
MY SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO SHARE & DOCUMENT YOUR LIFE STORIES & LESSONS LEARNED
1) Reflect and journal about the top one to three lessons you learned during your teen years, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, or 90s in your personal life, relationships, career, health, or finances. Look for any themes of resilience, intentional living, practicing gratitude, setting boundaries, asking for help, overcoming doubt and fear, or embracing change and joy.
2) Share what you have written with your chosen network of folks who would benefit from your lessons learned in a conversation, letter, email, blog, social media post, artwork, video, audio recording. and in-person or online gathering.
3) Consider turning your life stories and lessons learned into a Word or pdf document and/or an e-book with photos.
What communities welcome you and/or feed your soul?
Four years ago, I was seeking out local intergenerational creative communities and discovered Creative Mornings DC. After the first gathering, I knew I had found a welcoming tribe of like-minded folks and a source of inspiration. After attending a few gatherings, I felt the call to serve as a volunteer. Fast forward to now, I am still growing and cultivating my connections with folks organically by attending gatherings, volunteering, and meeting up one-on-one and in small group settings. Visit https://creativemornings.com/cities/DC to learn more.
Last year, I set an intention to spend more time in Baltimore getting to know the creative communities. Why you might ask? Because I’ve spent the past six years (since the global pandemic) visiting friends who live in the city and exploring various art, culture, and history venues. Baltimore has also become my second home again. The first time was way back in the 1980s when I attended Morgan State University (Class of 1986).
This year I decided to spend time with the Creative Mornings Baltimore community. Last Friday, I attended my first gathering at the Maryland Center for History and Culture with my soul sistalove Ayesha. As soon as we walked in and talked to the volunteers, I could feel the groovy vibes. The conversations I had with the diverse folks made me feel at home. The golden nuggets I received from the four speakers who shared their thoughts about the meaning of local were just the medicine I needed. All of it fed my soul in a deep and meaningful way. I’ll definitely be back next month! Visit https://creativemornings.com/cities/bal to learn more about the community.
FYI Creative Mornings is a global community that is free to join. It has chapters that meet in-person all over the world. It also offers online workshops and resources for creatives. Visit https://creativemornings.com for more information.
Throughout my self-discovery journey, my creativity has helped me cultivate relationships with my “great eight” archetypes.
My archetypes have helped me love, understand, forgive, accept, heal, and support myself.
Creating today’s collage was powerful and unexpected. It’s called “The Daughter of Erzulie Freda and Iemanja’s Trinity: My Ancestor – Wise Woman, Ananda – Spirit Woman, and Kiamsha – Creative Woman Archetypes.”
What a title! Its powerful meanings are still being revealed to me. I’ll share more about them in the coming weeks.
I added several Ghanaian Adinkra Nyame Dua symbols in blue, pink, and black. Nyame Dua means “Tree of God” or “Altar of God.” It represents divine presence, protection, and spiritual guardianship.
Blue is associated with Iemanja (Yemanya), the Afro-Brazilian Candomble orixa (orisha) of the sea, motherhood, and healing. The Afro mermaids on my arms and hands and in the water represent Iemanja. I used a photo of an Iemanja sculpture that I took in Salvador da Bahia, Brasil in 2025.
Pink is associated with Erzulie Freda, the Haitian Vodun loa (spirit or deity) of love, beauty, and abundance. Several of her veves (sacred symbols) are included on my forehead and arms. I used copies of a veve drawing I created and included in my debut novel, Love’s Troubadours – Karma: Book One.
Black is associated with my root chakra energy that reminds me to stay grounded in my spirit, heart, mind, body, and life with Creator and my spiritual tribe of Orishas (Orixas), angels, spirit guides, master teachers, and loving + wise + well ancestors.
The concept of the trinity is illustrated in three Erzulie Freda veves and Iemanja sculptures that appear on my body and in the water. It is also featured in the photos of my three archetypes: Ancestor – Wise Woman (holding a mask sculpture and wearing Ghanaian Adinkra green and purple cloth purchased during my 2003 trip to Ghana); Ananda – Spirit Woman Archetype (seated with an altar and my “Love Mentalism: Be Love, Love Light, and Live As the Spirit of Life” painting); and Kiamsha – Creative Woman Archetype (holding my Oshun wire sculpture made in 2000 and seated in purple and pink cloth purchased during my 2003 trip to Ghana).
In addition to creating my Ancestral Medicine digital collage collection, I am reflecting on and creating digital collages about the person I have been and currently am.
Yesterday, I found my high school senior class photo and thought about who I was at 17 years old.
I looked into my 17-year-old eyes and saw Madelyn Cheryl Leeke (my legal name; known as “Puf” to family and friends), an independent, talkative, focused high achiever, leader, and student at Elizabeth Seton High School (all-girls Catholic school), poet, future lawyer, public speaker, and a fun-loving, social, party and flirty girl who loves lipstick, Prince, dancing, shopping, dressing in vintage clothing mixed with jeans, going to basketball games, dating, speaking Spanish and French, traveling, dreaming of living well on 16th Street in DC, nature, basketball, catching the Metro, art, music, beaches, and all things cultural.
I see a sensitive, creative, and smart girl who put a lot of pressure on herself to succeed.
I see an intense, self-determined, and brave girl who had high expectations for herself and believed she had to achieve academic, career, and material success in order to survive and THRIVE.
What a young woman!
Over the years, I have had to forgive myself for some of the beliefs I had and choices I made that created unhealthy mindsets, behavior, and experiences.
I know my 17-year-old self did the best she could with what she had.
Let me also say, I am still in the process of forgiving and healing the person I was during each decade of my life. That work is ONGOING.
With that said, I can honestly say at 61 that I would not change a thing about my 17-year-old self because she got me to the place I am today. All of her beliefs and choices, the good and not so good, led me to experiences, people, lessons, wisdom, grace, forgiveness, patience, dreams, joy, pain, loss, healing, growth, and blessings that make me who I am today. And that person is a Woman Intentionally and Patiently Progressing (W.I.P.P.).
The title of this collage is “17.” I started it with a painting I made in 2006 or 2007 as the background. I loved the red and yellow colors because they remind me of my high school colors.
The color red also represents my root chakra energy and how focused I was on establishing career and financial security.
The yellow represents my solar plexus chakra energy and my intense focus on personal power, persistence, and self-determination.
Three Ghanaian Adinkra symbols were added to the collage.
Epa is the name of the Adinkra symbol that is repeated on my graduation gown. It symbolizes law and justice and illustrates my dream and career goal of becoming a lawyer who helps people and makes good money to afford my lifestyle and home on 16th Street in DC.
The Duafe (the comb) Adinkra symbol represents femininity and beauty and illustrates my desire to be, feel, and look feminine, stylish, and beautiful.
The Bese Asaka Adinkra symbol represent abundance and wealth and illustrates my goal to live well.
Tennis has always been a sport I wanted to learn as an adult. It runs in my family too. Check out the photo of my grandmother Frederica Stanley Roberts Leeke holding her tennis racket during the 1930s
During the global pandemic, I decided to take lessons and become a beginner player. My soul sistalove Tonya (see in the third photo above) encouraged me. Tonya is an intermediate player and “tennis momma” with many years of experience due to her son’s tennis playing years.
Tennis has always been a sport I wanted to learn as an adult. During the global pandemic, I decided to take lessons and become a beginner player. My soul sistalove Tonya (see in the third photo above) encouraged me. Tonya is an intermediate player and “tennis momma” with many years of experience due to her son’s tennis playing years.
In October 2021, my tennis journey began at the grand age of 56 with the support of my coach Kendall, a Howard University senior and member of the tennis team, on the Banneker courts in Washington, D.C. Kendall coached me for several weeks before the weather got too cold and resumed teaching me during the spring and early summer in 2022 (see two photos of above).
After she moved, she referred me to Jadenn, a coach and junior at Hampton University who was a member of the tennis team. Jaden worked with me on the basics and encouraged me to sign up for the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation’s (DPR) fall tennis classes in August 2022.
During my DPR journey, I learned so much from a great group of coaches including Rich, Richard, Dave, and Kevin, and volunteers Gail and Dan. I also learned a lot from my classmates. When I graduated to intermediate tennis classes in the summer of 2024, I started working with Coach Marian Lang (see photos above). Coach Marian really helped me with dive deeper into tennis and build my confidence as a player. I worked with her until the end of 2025 and plan to continue working with her this year.
In October 2025, I realized I learn better when I am in a small group. So I stopped taking classes with DPR. My friend Tonya encouraged me to experiment with indoor lessons at Junior Tennis Champions Center (JTCC) and Rock Creek Tennis Center and. So I signed up for JTCC’s Learn Tennis Now programs in November 2025. I also gave myself a birthday gift of intermediate lessons with Coach Bianca Eqalite at Rock Creek Tennis Center in December 2025.
Before 2025 ended, I decided to take intermediate winter classes at JTCC and Rock Creek Tennis Center. Unfortunately, I only attended one class at Rock Creek Tennis Center due to the winter snow and my schedule. I may go back in the spring or summer because I really enjoyed Coach Bianca.
My winter intermediate classes at JTCC have been pretty intense which is a good thing for me. I have enjoyed learning from Coaches Ross, Tayla, Eva, and Ale, and practicing with and playing my classmates.
Last weekend, I spent Saturday evening celebrating International Women’s Day and the great tennis legacy of women players like Althea Gibson, Serena and Venus Williams, Coco Gauff, Naomi Osaka, and Taylor Townsend at JTCC. I had a great time participating in tennis exercises, games, and matches. It was an intense workout that was much needed.
Getting a peach Fila tennis skirt made the event even sweeter!
Special thanks to Marta and the JTCC women coaches for hosting the event.
PLANT is the prompt for #Februllage Day 11. My collage is entitled “Two Generations Planting Seeds of Black Girl Joy.” It explores two things that brought joy to my mother Theresa and I during our girlhoods: playing with our dolls and dogs. I included photos of us with our favorite dolls and dogs in the collage.
My mom grew up with a dog named Elmer in Indianapolis, Indiana. She loved him so much and made sure my brothers and I experienced the same love and joy.
I grew up with a dog named Clarence in Landover, Maryland. Due to my mom’s love, he became the fifth Leeke child. We all loved him too. He was one of my best friends. I spent lots of time playing with and talking to him. I still remember his smile and remember him on his birthday each year. I even keep a photograph of us on my refrigerator.
The collage includes graphics of a potted plant and woman gardening and photos of my mom and I when we were toddlers. The seeds in the potted plant represent our joy. Our toddler photos represent our pure joy as children. The woman gardening illustrates our adult responsibility to tend to our own garden of joy.
Several Ghanaian Adinkra Gye W’Ani symbols are featured. They represent joy and living fully with joy.
YOUR INVITATION
Click on the video below and listen to my song, “Ancestral Medicine” that is featured on my debut album, Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter as you reflect on the questions below.
1) What brought you joy as a child?
2) What brings you joy as an adult?
3) What are one to three steps you can take to experience more joy in your daily life (they don’t have to take a lot of time or cost you money; consider incorporating simple things you can do in your daily life)?
Yesterday, I discovered that making digital collages dedicated to my loving + wise + well ancestors is a powerful way to care for myself when I experience grief that is born out of the loss of a loved one.
Making ancestral collages is a form of ancestral medicine because it helps you remember your ancestors and express love and gratitude for them.
I had a lot of fun thinking about OBLIVIOUS, today’s #Februllage prompt.
My creative process started with a visit to the internet’s dictionary universe.
After reading several definitions, I made a mental note of the synonyms that resonated. Two words claimed space in my mind: unaware and clueless.
I wondered about the times in my life when I have been unaware or clueless.
I also started looking at family photos and found one of my mom Theresa and three brothers, Mike, Mark, and Matt. It was taken by my father John in 1969.
As I looked at the photo, I realized my little girl self called Puf (“Puf the Magic Dragon” like the song by Peter, Paul & Mary) was experiencing joy sitting with her mom and brothers. She was also OBLIVIOUS to how spiritually and emotionally wealthy she was as a daughter who had an overflowing amount of love, guidance, protection, and provision from her mother and loving + wise + well ancestors.
I ended up using the photo as the base of today’s collage that is entitled “A Little Girl Is Oblivious.”
I added a photo of my current self. That photo represents me as a woman whonnow recognizes and claims her spiritual and emotional weath.
Several Bese Saka symbols were included in the collage. Bese Saka is a beautiful Adinkra symbol that represents abundance and wealth. They are placed in the right-hand corner of the collage.
One last thing! I wrote a statement in the upper left-hand side that expresses how I was OBLIVIOUS as a little girl about the spiritual and emotional weath I had as a result of my mom’s love, presence, wisdom, guidance, protection, creativity, joy, and adventure.
YOUR INVITATION
Click on the video below and listen to my song, “Ancestral Medicine” that is featured on my debut album, Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter as you reflect on the questions below.
1) Think back to your childhood and the connections you shared with loved ones like your parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Can you recall something you didn’t know about them and later learned when you were an adult?
2) Did the new information you learned about them impact you in any way?
Bottle is the prompt for #Februllage Day 9. My collage is entitled Mother + Daughter + Granddaughter Memory from 1986.
I thought about memories I wish I could have bottled. I decided to create a collage about my memory of standing next to my mother Theresa and grandmother Dorothy (known as Nanan) in a family photo that was taken during my parents’ 25th wedding anniversary celebration in 1986.
I remember my mom being so happy to renew her vows with my dad in the presence of her children, family, and friends. I was very happy to serve as her maid of honor and celebrate my parents. I think Nanan was happy to see her daughter so happy.
This photo is one of the only photos I have with all of us together. It’s hard to believe that it was taken 40 years ago. When I look at it now, I can truly appreciate the layers of mother-daughter love that existed between us as imperfect human beings.
I started the collage with a photo that my niece Jordan took of me during our 2021 visit to the KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature exhibition at the New York Botanical Garden that featured the work of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. She encouraged me to pose by the floral exhibit.
Side Note: We both love flowers.
I was so happy that day because I got to spend it with my niece who is the daughter I never had and one of my favorite people in the world.
I remember telling my mom how happy I was that Jordan and I got to share the joy of seeing one of our favorite artists together. I also texted this photo to my mom. She loved art and flowers just like Jordan and me.
Both photos are filled with moments I wish I could have bottled so I could open them on days when I need a quick reminder of how I blessed I am to be Theresa’s daughter, Dorothy’s granddaughter, and Jordan’s aunt.
YOUR INVITATION
Click on the video below and listen to my song, “Ancestral Medicine” that is featured on my debut album, Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter as you reflect on the question below.
If you could bottle moments spent with your loving + wise + well ancestors, what would they be?
What gifts are you giving yourself this holiday season?
I am giving myself the gift of several self-vulnerability dates where I carve out time to meditate, reflect, journal, write poetry, and create art (drawings and collages) about the ups, downs, and in-betweens of this year.
This morning, I reflected on my 61st birthday which is fast approaching (December 18th). My reflections took me back to my first trip to Negril, Jamaica with my Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Soror Karla Ray Thompson in December 1992. That trip was really special because I turned 28 on the beach and surrendered to my first Saturn Return (astrology lovers like myself can appreciate this experience).
That trip offered me sacred and safe space to embrace and express self-vulnerability. That experience of telling myself the TRUTH about what I felt, thought, believed, and what was and was not happening in my world was MESSY, SCARY, MAGICAL, OVERWHELMING, and LIBERATING all at the same time. It helped me speak to my heart, listen to myself without judgment, and come home to myself. It marked the beginning of a major shift in how I showed up in my life, relationships, and career. It also laid the foundation for my Thriving Mindfully heart-centered approach to being, living, and serving humanity with my gifts.
Click on the video and listen to the “Thriving Mindfully Theme,” one of the nine spoken word poems on my newly released debut album entitled Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter.
Click the button below to get more information about my album. Buy and download it from Bandcamp, YouTube Music, Apple Music, and other streaming platforms except Amazon and Spotify.
It’s been 33 years since that trip and my heart remains filled with deep gratitude for the gift of self-vulnerability that I continue to give myself and my Thriving Mindfully approach to being, living, and serving humanity with my gifts.
Do you want to learn how to give yourself the gift of self-vulnerability?
Need my coaching support?
GO HERE to sign up to join me for Thriving Mindfully Sundays on December 14th and January 4th from 3:00 p.m. EST to 4:00 p.m. EST via Zoom
I look forward to seeing you at one or both of the Thriving Mindfully Sunday sessions.
How are you doing now that the holiday season has begun?
After my mother Theresa made her transition on July 9, 2023, the months of November and December became filled with tons of memories and reminders that she was no longer physically present on Mother Earth.
These months have become some of the most emotionally vulnerable times of the year for me because they are filled with a mix of emotions ranging from gratitude to grief. I am grateful for having my mother for 58 years of my life. I am grateful I feel her love, hear her wisdom, and experience her presence and protection as my loving + wise + well ancestor each day. I also grieve her physical absence and miss sharing the holidays with her.
Navigating my vulnerability and grief each year can be messy, hard, and scary, especially when I try to avoid feeling or hide from my emotions. Over the past three holiday seasons, I have learned to cope by embracing and practicing self-vulnerability.
For me, self-vulnerability is an INVITATION to open your heart to yourself.
Self-Vulnerability is also a CHOICE you can make to tell yourself the TRUTH about your emotions, thoughts, grief, beliefs, fears, doubts, weaknesses, imperfections, experiences, and relationships instead of hiding from them.
Self-Vulnerability is also healing and liberating because it creates space for you to embrace your birthrights of self-awareness, self-love, self-kindness, self-compassion, self-forgiveness, and self-acceptance.
RESOURCE #1
If you are feeling vulnerable and/or experiencing grief during the holidays, I invite you to use my holiday check-in list of questions to get in touch with yourself below.
RESOURCE #2
Listen to my new spoken word song, “G.R.I.E.F.” that is included on my debut album, Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter (released on November 20). Go here to get more information about, buy, and download the album
RESOURCE #3
If you need more support, sign up to join me for Thriving Mindfully Sundays on December 14 and January 4 from 3 p.m. EST to 4 p.m. EST via Zoom. Get more information and RSVP here.
Go here to get more information and listen to and buy Thriving Mindfully As Theresa’s Daughter album on Bandcamp, YouTube Music, Apple Music, and other streaming platforms except for Amazon Music and Spotify.
Ananda Leeke 