1962, 1990, 1993, 2015, 2018. It all started with my Aunt and Godmother, Mary (Anderson) Randle at Beta Epsilon on the campus of Benedict College in Columbia, SC. While she had been active in several chapters throughout her travels, it was in 1990 that she helped charter the Eta Iota Sigma chapter (Montgomery County, MD) and inducted my mother, Naomi Hamilton.
Three years later, I would join Sigma prior to graduating from James Madison University as part of the Lambda Iota chapter. I moved to Charlotte to be closer to my family in 1997 and joined the Beta Omicron Sigma chapter. In 2006, we hosted the Northeastern Regional Conference in Charlotte while I was Basileus of the chapter. That was a proud moment because my mother and Auntie had reactivated and were helping to host the conference.
I was even prouder in 2015 when the daughter of a close family friend I watched grow up and considered my niece, told me she wanted to join Sigma Gamma Rho. She was inducted through Omicron Eta chapter at UNC-Greensboro!
I was proud to pin my Auntie as a Cultured Pearl at the 2018 Boule. Even though she was not able to pin me when I joined, I could be there for her big moment and celebration of 50 years of service.
But my proudest moment was when my big sister, Melendy Moore, joined Sigma Gamma Rho in 2018. While our mother passed on to Omega Rho in 2008, I knew she was smiling down on us that afternoon when my Auntie & I got to pin and greet my sister as our Soror.
What is it like to be a legacy? There is an extra sense of joy in every picture you take together. To know that you are "doubly" connected by family and by Sigma. There is the knowing that if anyone will have my back, it will definitely be these ladies. Now, I have a lot of close Sorors in Sigma. We have been there for each other as travel buddies, worked on events together, supported each other through weddings and funerals. But the bond of being a legacy is just a bit more special. That you have known this person for a significant time of your life and now you have this additional bond in the Sorority - it makes my heart smile.