This is a picture of my husband, Absalom Jones. Almost everyone calls him "Reverend Jones." Sometimes even I call him that, but only when I'm teasing him. "Now, Reverend Jones," I'll say. And he'll say, "Yes, Mrs. Jones." You know, the sound of that still thrills me, even after all these years. I am so proud to be the wife of The Reverend Absalom Jones.  Because he really is a hero. You might even call him a super-hero.  He's done a lot of heroic deeds that makes me so proud to be his wife and so proud of this portrait.  Let me tell you the most heroic thing he's done. When he was working in his master's store, he had to work for nothing.  That's because he was a slave and slaves have to work hard for no pay.  It was the same for me.  I was a slave, too.  Sometimes a slave, once he finishes a long day's work for his master, can work extra — nights, weekends — for someone else and keep the money he earns that way. He works and works and saves and saves and finally has enough money to buy the thing he wants most. Can you guess what a slave wants most? Of course you can — slaves want freedom more than anything. If a slave saves enough money — the same amount his master would get if he sold the slave to someone else — the slave can sometimes give the money to his master and buy his own freedom. Absalom did that. He worked and saved and finally had enough money to buy freedom for one slave. What do you think he did? Are you thinking he bought his own freedom. You're right. Half right. He did pay for a slave's freedom. But he didn't pay for his freedom. He paid for mine. He bought my freedom first. And then he began to work and save all over again until he had enough money to buy his own freedom. So that's why I think Absalom Jones is a super-hero. What do you think?

Author's Statement 

Although I was born in Nashville, Tennessee, I have lived on The Delmarva Peninsula so long that I am almost a local. I love writing about The Delmarva Peninsula, which is actually an island. Like most islands, it's full of history and secrets. Absalom Jones is a good example of this. Born a slave in southern Delaware, he accomplished great things and became internationally famous. Yet very few people know the story of his life. My writing life began with stories — and my grandmothers. My paternal grandmother read me stories while I snuggled in her bed before the rest of the house was awake. It was in my maternal grandmother's farmhouse, curled up in the window seat under the eaves, that I wrote my first story. When I am writing, I am in a very special place where I occasionally feel the feather-light touch of divine inspiration — the love and creativity that surrounds us all. I have come to believe that the most important member of a family is, often, the one who isn't there and the most important story is the one that has not yet been told.

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