My father paraphrased that statement from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “The Street Sweeper” speech. He lived by those words, lead by example, and taught me to reach for the stars — that I could be anything I wanted to be!

Where you go, we will go. Where you stay, we will stay. — Anniebelle Sue-Helen Machen Crooks

My parents were inseparable, like peanut butter and jelly. Our family followed my father wherever his career led him or sometimes forced him to go.

My father was in the U.S. Air Force, and like most military families, we were always in the process of relocating. I guess that’s why to this day I feel most at home while traveling, living out of a suitcase.

I was born in Mobile, Alabama, but raised abroad. I spent my formative years growing up in Okinawa and Japan, and my teenage years in England. We moved back to the States when I was 17, and continued traveling once we arrived. This time to see America by car, a family road trip that brought us to all 50 states twice.

My father wanted us to have a culturally rich childhood. So, he took advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by having us live off-base whenever possible, so we could participate in the life and culture of the communities where we were stationed.

While living in Misawa, Japan, and Kadena, Okinawa, I attended non-military schools and learned to speak English and Japanese at the same time. In England, I attended a private school, and we lived on Buzzards Close, in Little Bourton, Banbury, Oxfordshire, England.

Looking back, I realize what a privileged childhood I had. I am forever grateful to have had the opportunity to grow up, eat, worship, and go to school with the locals in the places we lived.

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture, is like a tree without roots. — Marcus Garvey

It was such a privilege to participate in community cultural activities alongside the locals in Japan and England. Each country has unique festivities that are very different from our celebrations here in America.

I am fortunate to have had this experience and to have learned history from the perspective of three intertwined but very different cultures.

Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, leave the rest to God. — Ronald Reagan

My father came to the U.S. from Trinidad and Tobago with his mother, who died of breast cancer, while here on a work visa living in Seneca, South Carolina. He was just a child at the time and became a naturalized citizen of the United States at a young age.

My mother was also from Seneca, South Carolina. My parents met and married in Greenville, South Carolina, and soon afterward, my father pursued a career in the U.S. Air Force.

He honorably served his country for 30 years and achieved the highest enlisted rank of Chief Master Sergeant (CMSgt). He was a technician for Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory (PMEL) and also served in Vietnam.

Double Impact: Making the world a better place, one smile at a time. — Monica & Diana Crooks, DDS

Both of my sisters served in the military, and they were officers, both Captains (Capts). At that time, it was unusual to have two sisters in the Air Force, even more, that they were both dentists, and most uncommon that they were stationed together at the same airbase in the same clinic.

Any couple can have children and call themselves “parents.” But real parents are people who put their children above their own selfish needs and wants. — Ricardo Crooks

My parents taught me so many wonderful things. I can’t even begin to mention all of them, and only now that I am older, I realize the utter importance of all the things they did for me.

I am the person I am today, mostly because of what my parents gave me: my values, my emotional stability, my interests, my tendencies, and my ability to be a reliable and secure individual in the world. I wouldn’t be the person I am now or achieved anything that I have achieved without the constant support of these two extraordinary people.

Food may not be the answer to world peace, but it’s a start. — Anthony Bourdain

Growing up as I did overseas influenced the foods we ate at home, and this is why I have such love for global cuisine, and ethnic flavors. As a young adult, my fascination with food led to me opening two establishments that celebrated the world on a plate!

1. The Urban Café — Was a delicatessen that served soup, sandwiches, salads, coffee, tea, soda, and snacks.
2. Cascades — Was an upscale restaurant that served fusion cuisine.

The menus of each of these eateries were representative of the many delicious foods I had eaten growing up. Now, I have started the food vlog Go Keto Crazy. It’s become quite evident that I have always been a foodie, ever since I was a kid!