coping

 

Tina Turner:

---------- My parents returned to Nutbush when I was five, so I was freed from the stifling environment at my relatives' place.  But our home wasn't much better because my parents were still fighting tooth and nail.

        Whenever they'd go at each other, I'd run out of the house...

        ... I knew I'd have to find my own way to carry on, to construct my own path to happiness.

        I spent a lot of time outside, where I could think in peace.  Nature was the only place where I always felt welcome and enjoyed a sense of belonging--my truest childhood home.  

Whether sitting in the garden at night staring up at a star-filled sky or lying in the noon shade of a tulip tree, watching butterflies glide by, I felt the healing force of love everywhere in nature, and I soaked it in.

        I didn't let my unstable family situation prevent me from finding enjoyment in the world around me. 

In those days, Nutbush and other areas north of Memphis were a mecca for local and traveling gospel, blues, and jazz musicians.  

They performed in our churches, cafes, and juke joints and became my first musical influences.  I loved listening to all different types of music, and I did so every chance I got.  

We didn't have a record player, but we always had a radio, and that was good enough for me.

        I enjoyed singing in the church choir and occasionally performed with Mr. Bootsie Whitelaw, a popular Nutbush native, and his String Band.  During high school, my music teacher even had me learning to sing opera.

___________________________

(excerpts from the book 

Happiness Becomes You 

    by Tina Turner, with Taro Gold and Regula Curti

Copyright 2020 - Atria Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster)

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