The Stages of Life

In the book, The Mee Street Chronicles: Straight Up Stories of a Black Woman’s Life we read and learn the story of Frankie Lennon’s journey through life. Throughout the book we can find stages of “The Journey” as explained by Lennon in her blog. Two stages I have found in the book so far are Meeting the Mentor and Test/Road of Trails.

One stage I found was Meeting the Mentor. In this stage, the journeyer meets a mentor, teacher or guide. It is through this mentor that the journeyer learns new skills and gains confidence in abilities to continue in the journey. I found this stage in the story “Sanctuary.” I believe this story exemplifies the stage of Meeting the Mentor because it is in this story that she meets Reverend Bean. Reverend Bean teaches Frankie that, “Love was for everyone” and that there was nothing wrong with being same sex attracted. I believe his teachings facilitate Frankie’s journey because she no longer has to hide who she is. She doesn’t have to worry about hiding her identity anymore which is one less thing she has to worry about. Though all her problems are not solved, Frankie uses Reverend Bean’s teachings to facilitate her journey.

The other stage I found was Test/Road of Trails in the story “Skirmishes.” In this stage the journeyer encounters challenges that test his/her ability to continue the journey. In the story “Skirmishes” we find the narrator in her A.A meeting after being fired from her job. This incident makes her want a drink really bad. This becomes a test, a battle within the war, as the title states. This is a test because Frankie doesn’t want to relapse into drinking. She wants to stay sober, but getting fired was an excuse she wanted to use in order to drink again. She fights with the monkeys in her head as she imagines tasting the alcohol in her lips. Tempted by the monkey’s words she gets up and walks to the door almost defeated by the urge to drink. Fortunately she hears Sam say, “don’t leave five minutes before the miracle.” For the first time she raises her hand and says, “I’m Frankie and I’m an alcoholic.” In doing this, Frankie wins this skirmish and passes the test.

In the book, The Mee Street Chronicles: Straight Up Stories of a Black Woman’s Life by Frankie Lennon, we can the stages, Meeting the Mentor and Test/ Road of Trails. These stages test Frankie’s ability to continue in her journey. In the end, She learns from these stages and continues on her journey trough life.