My Biggest Regret: Flamingo Road

Although I have barely lived three decades, I have been relatively accepting of the errors I have made. I have made mistakes here and there, but they were not life altering nor were they a burden on my soul and prevent me from being happy. But there is one decision I made in my life that causes regret whenever I recall that moment in time.

A few years ago, I went to the hospital to visit someone I knew. He was an older man and I had not seen him in a while because I had dated his son and I did not want to create an awkward situation, since the son was engaged. I didn't want anyone to know that I had come because I wanted to see him discreetly. However, he called his wife and said that I was there. He was so thrilled and we talked for a little while.

He asked me if I could do him a favor and I said certainly. He had lived an exciting life as a musician and he wanted me to write his life story. He said, "You can write it and it will be a book of fiction. You can keep the royalties because you wrote it, Kiarra. I want people to know my story. We'll call it Flamingo Road."

I don't remember if I said yes or that I would think about it. I knew that I could put the book together. I knew that I would be consistent and gather all of the information that I needed to put the book together. But I felt that doing so would be inappropriate and I told myself that maybe it would be best for a family member to write it. Perhaps a relative could dictate the work and this would not be crossing any boundaries.

But he never got to tell his story because he passed away before it could be written. I told myself after that day that I was put in that situation because I was the one who was meant to write his story. Instead of passing off the responsibility, I should have disregarded appearances and simply granted him his wish. Now the story would never be told.

I promised myself that I would never make a decision like this again. Everyone has a story and if you are the vessel through which a good story is told, be accepting of it. For if you deny it, you are potentially erasing a legacy.