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Today, I want to share the story of a woman who stood in the shadows of history, but whose vision, whose courage, whose convictions have paved the way for generations.  We always talk about Ruby Bridges. We never talk about her mother.

Lucille Commadore Bridges, who passed away this week at the age of 86, grew up in Tylertown, Mississippi.  She was the daughter of sharecroppers and dreamed of a world where she could learn and grow and become everything she was meant to be.  But that world was not her world, and though her parents dreamed of a better life for her, reality limited her opportunity.  After the eighth grade, she was forced to leave school so that she could help her parents in the field. She grew up, hemmed in by Jim Crow and blatant racism.  She became a housekeeper, married a mechanic, and saved away her dreams for her children.