EDITOR’S NOTE: As the editor of The Freeport News when Deborah Anderson-Pratt wrote her weekly YOUTH ISSUES column for The Freeport News, I absolutely had to share this post as a Guest Commentary with readers of my online publication, BAHAMAS CHRONICLE, which has a huge following among Bahamians in the diaspora across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom as well as in The Bahamas and the wider Caribbean.
YOUTH ISSUES was indeed an excellent column and Deborah was, and still is, a great writer, as she demonstrates almost daily in her posts on Facebook for her DAPS Corporate Training & Business Services based in Freeport, Grand Bahama. She has also developed into an inspiring motivational speaker and I am indeed very proud of her. Here is the narrative that accompanied the photo published by Deborah Anderson-Pratt:
GUEST COMMENTARY: BY DEBORAH ANDERSON-PRATT
FREEPORT, Grand Bahama, December 11, 2023 — While attending “The More” Master Class by Caline Newton, yesterday, a lady asked me if I am Deborah Pratt who used to write a Youth Issues Column in the Freeport News. I replied, yes. She got all excited saying she read my column all the time when she was in high school.
Looking at her my first thought was, ‘Wow! I’m really old!’ After thinking about it though, I realized that it was in 2008, 15 years ago, when I began writing that Youth Issues Column, so of course many of the young people who read it or young persons that I may have featured in the column in the early years would all be grown now.
She continued by saying how the column impacted her life and reminded me of a time when she sent me an email (My email address was always at the bottom of the column) expressing how she was inspired by the column.
It was so great meeting her and hearing her kind words. It’s always good to know that you helped to positively impact the life of someone. It was also great to see that she was attending the event yesterday, investing in herself, still seeking inspiration and growth. She truly made my day.
