GROVETOWN – When Grovetown Army veteran, pastor and author Dawn Charleston-Green was growing up in Mansfield, La., she remembered an older lady used to call out to her, “Heeeyy Dandelion!”
That moniker and dandelions in general have resonated with her so much that, years later, she wrote a storybook during the pandemic entitled, “Heeeyy Dandelion!” using the dandelion as a symbol and extended metaphor to discuss self-esteem, honesty and family adoption and mental health.
Dawn Charleston-Green self-published the storybook in April along with a related children’s journal and coloring book. The storybook itself is designed for parents to read-aloud with their children and have dialogue.
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She will have a book launch and signing from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in the multi-purpose room on the second floor of the Grovetown Public Library on 105 Old Wrightsboro Rd.
“Young Ana in the story is feeling somewhat disappointed about something she has done and uncertain as to whether she was good enough for her family. Her mother shares with her the life cycle of a dandelion; that though it grows beautifully as a flower, it is often considered a weed and not wanted. However, the dandelion is actually very valuable in its attributes. Young Ana is encouraged to be herself and to believe that she is valuable to her family just the way she is,” the book’s synopsis reads.
Charleston-Green said, “I was led to write the book after a conversation I had with my adopted daughter about understanding her value in our family after we began facing some unforeseen challenges.”
She said one of her blog posts on her Dawn of a New Day 365 blog, dawnofanewday365.com/blog/ was called “Family Matters.”
“I hoped that by sharing portions of our story about adopting and learning how to better fulfill the needs of our daughter that it would encourage foster parents and other adoptive parents to have candid conversations about shared experiences to help each other understand they are not alone and to hopefully act as supports for each other,” Charleston-Green said.
She said with her biological son, who is in his 20s now, she had different experiences.
Charleston-Green said, “I was Supermom. My son was super-smart and athletic.”
The dynamic was different with him, and it didn’t completely prepare her for the next challenge.
“I thought that raising my biological son, as well as my educational and professional experience with children, had prepared me to care for any child,” said Charleston-Green, who also taught school in Louisiana at one time. “I learned that there were things I needed to better understand and resources that I needed to help me to better parent my daughter.”
Her daughter faced different obstacles than her son had.
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Charleston-Green said, “There were no obvious signs present when we adopted our daughter that she might have some challenges later. However, as she got older and started school and schoolwork became more challenging, it became apparent to me that my daughter had some processing issues that made it more difficult for her to retain information. To mask this, she began to disengage and act out.”
She cited author and speaker John Maxwell as providing insight into raising her daughter.
“Maxwell gave the example that he believes in the value of providing your children love and safety. He believed, however, that if you provided those things, that your children would serve productive lives and be successful,” she said.
Charleston-Green said Maxwell said he still sticks by his values, but, after parenting his adoptive children, he no longer believes that those things alone determine a child’s adult outcome.
“There are also innate and/or biological factors that play a role,” she said.
Charleston-Green said that she realized she was going through the same situation with her daughter and her struggles. She said one of the major signs of her daughter’s struggles was when she said, “I will never be good enough to be in this family.”
She said she thought back to a blogpost she had for adults on the Dawn of a New Day 365 blog, “Bloom Wherever You Grow, Dandelion”, and she said she felt the need to tell her daughter to bloom where she was growing. “Heeeyy Dandelion!” grew out of some of these conversations and more.
Charleston-Green said, “People think of dandelions as weeds and usually work to get rid of them, but dandelions have more benefits than most people know. The roots of a dandelion help to bring nourishment to surrounding plants. So they can be seen as a helper. My daughter is a great helper, so I shared this with her and told her she was a lot like a dandelion – beautiful and a great benefit to those around her — especially our family.”
Dandelions self-pollinate, but they are still vital to butterflies and bees.
“We as people serve that way sometimes. We serve as nourishment for others,” she said.
Other attributes of dandelions that people can relate to include their self-protective measures.
She also said, “The leaf of a dandelion is flat and broad and is a part of the plant’s natural self-preservation, to help it from being overtaken or getting choked out by plants around it. As people, we too have self-preservation mechanisms that help us to preserve our well-being.”
She referred to the dandelion seeds that blow in the wind.
“We can all stand firmly (as dandelions), but those seeds are the evidence of our works,” Charleston-Green said.
She said within her storybook the mother character, who basically emulates her, teaches her daughter the value of the dandelion and her own self-worth.
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Charleston-Green, who has an English degree with emphasis on writing and a master’s degree in counseling, utilizes both of those disciplines in her books. She started writing in 2020 at the start of the pandemic.
“Heeeyy Dandelion!” will only be available from events such as the one at the Grovetown Public Library or from the author directly at heeeyydandelion.com for now. It is not available on online book retailers but may be placed in some regional bookstores soon. Charleston-Green is also working on an audiobook version of the storybook.
Another of her recent books, “5 Day Morning C.O.F.F.E.E. Devotion,” is available from her blog website and is a devotional book for a female audience. According to the description, “it was written to help women develop and deepen their faith walk with purpose and intentionality.”
Each day includes practical lessons, scripture references, personal goals and reflections entry and closing prayer.
“The devotion was written to help women develop or deepen their faith. Women would often ask me what I did to maintain my faith and ask me for specific advice and pointers. So, I wrote the devotion to give both a message and a method for committing to the practice daily,” she said.
Her Dawn of a New Day 365 blog is now an expanded business with books and more. Within the blog, she has given advice on grief, parenting and marriage. “For example, I once posted a blogpost on six to seven tips on how people could be at a better place in their marriage,” Charleston-Green said.
She said, “Each year for Valentine’s Day and around my anniversary in November, I write about love, how to work to cultivate your marriage, or share my own personal marriage journey. My husband and I have been married for almost 19 years. It has not been perfect, but we are committed to our union and have seen our relationship progress significantly over the years, so I like to share that and give other couples hope.”
Charleston-Green and her husband, Retired Command Sgt. Maj. turned pastor Leon Green Jr., serve together in leading the ROCK at Still Waters Ministries.
For more information, see https://dawnofanewday365.com/about-dawn-charleston-green/ or https://www.heeeyydandelion.com/about.
Ron Baxley Jr. is a correspondent for The Augusta Press.
