Foreword by Sirman Celayir, Belinda's father The years 2004 to 2006 marked an especially difficult cycle in Belinda's life. It began with her divorce from her good-for-naught husband of several years, who had recently quit work under some pretense, whom she caught stealing money from her purse to buy drugs. As I was told, Belinda was arrested for borrowing a car from a family friend, which car was then stolen from Belinda by a supposed friend, for which she became liable and taken to jail. While in jail, Belinda's mom, with whom she had been living, died unexpectedly of cancer, upon which her (Belinda's) son was taken away from her home and given to her ex-mother-in-law in West Virginia. After also losing her job as "vet tech," the family home her mother had purchased, for which Belinda had been paying the mortgage, was declared delinquent and was put on sale by the bank. While trying to make sense of these sudden and cataclysmic turn of events in jail, Belinda the free spirit felt like an animal in a cage. The poetry she composed during this very difficult time in her life reflects her shock and despair at her situation, her desperate way of maintaining some composure and passing time. The cycle began to wane when I picked her up from jail upon her release on Aug. 9, 2006 and moved her to a new condo I had just purchased for Belinda in Fernandina, Florida, where our Anne (my mother, her grandmother) was waiting for her with open arms, who had raised Belinda as much as Belinda's mother when Belinda was a child. This was eight years ago . . . Anne, who lived to age 97, passed away two months ago (on Sep. 9, 2014). Belinda has been employed since her arrival, presently living with a roommate in another apartment in this same complex, driving her own car, and is in the process of stabilizing while also having fun. She is in touch with her son (Jeremy), who is now a young adult employed in West Virginia near his other grandmother.
About the Author: Belinda Femsi Celayir was born in Morgantown, West Virginia on February 20th, 1967. Her beautiful mother, Judith Ann Wychulis, is of Penn-Dutch heritage from Altoona, Pennsylvania, whereas her dad, Sirman Celayir, is a naturalized American from Istanbul, Turkey, who at Belinda's birth was a student at West Virginia University. Belinda's middle name is the name of one of her Turkish-American aunts and the name of her grandfather Dr. Cavit Celayir's mother from Arhavi, a town of ethnic Laz people from the shores of eastern Black Sea of Turkey. (These 2 are the only Femsi names in Turkey.) As for her first name, her father named her after actress Belinda Lee, whom he had liked when he was a gymnasium student in Trier, Germany, 1958 to 1962. Belinda's parents were divorced in 1971. Except for a 6-month period when Belinda stayed with her father in La Jolla, California in 1982, she spent the first 22 years of her life in Morgantown and Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, where her father's parents were living and where her mother worked. During her early years, Belinda was raised also by her grandmother Zekiye and aunt Gülhis (Gigi in USA), and on several occasions traveled with them to Turkey during her summer holidays in 1975, 1977 and 1979, in addition to trips to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greece and Italy with her father in 1979. In 1999, Belinda and her mother moved to Georgia. She lived in Norris Lake, a small community in Snellville, Georgia near Atlanta. She grew up with cats and dogs as pets and so later began to work as veterinary technician. As a result of her "free soul" personality, trusting, open and positive nature, and circumstances beyond her control, she has led a tumultuous life, including a long unproductive relationship with her former husband and wasted university education. Having lost her mother in 2006, Belinda now resides with her father in Fernandina Beach, Florida and has been employed in various jobs, lately in telemarketing. She is a member of the Nassau County Writers & Poets Society in Fernandina. This is her first book and she hopes that it will inspire others who find themselves in a similar position--that going to jail can happen to anyone.