User:ShandaSanders/Shanda E. Sanders

www.heavenssecretgarden.com

Shanda E. Sanders was born on July 13, 1973. She was born in Griffin, Georgia but lived in Atlanta, Georgia until she was three years of age. She relocated back to her mother's (Mary Sanders), daughter of Bessie Mae and Jonas Sanders, birth place in McDonough, Georgia until she was five years old. Shanda was the talk of the town, as noted for making headlines in the local newspaper for simply getting her ears pierced at such a tender age. Then she moved to a rural part of town called Jackson, Georgia until she was seven. Shanda was not wheelchair bound, but physically disabled, with a condition known as "out of joint" kneecaps, which made it difficult but not impossible for Shanda to function as a child. Though she did not spend a lot of her time running and playing as children should, she found a greater joy in writing, drawing, and music. Her mother remembers, "she would look at other children having fun and just when you think it would bring her down, Shanda would see someone in a wheelchair and bounce back to the happy little girl that everyone knew and loved. She would write stories and letters that made you cry because she had such an appreciation for life and those that didn't even have to play a significant role in her life". However, she was still as active as one could be in her position. As painful and difficult as it must have been for her, it didn't keep her from running several 50 yard dashes for her school and participating in the largest second grade musical production in the county called "It's A Small, Small World..." As her condition noted by doctors would never get better without a surgery that did not prove to be successful for other candidates, but was the only known possible cure for this disability, Shanda without hesitation deliberated with both doctors and parents on her wishes to have the surgery. The first surgery was arranged and was only successful in her left knee. After a complication in the right knee was duly noted by the surgeon, a specialist was brought in to repair the damage and reset the out of joint knee cap once again. After six months of very intense physical rehabilitation, Shanda was walking perfectly. Though she still had a long road ahead of her in regaining her physical mobility in both legs, shortly after rehab, she gained enough strength in her legs to be cast in a countywide production called "It's A Small, Small World..." and took the leading role as "Olive Oyl". Shanda strutted across the stage next to her leading man "Popeye" and the audience was flooded with tears and cheers for her bravery and strength to stand on her own two feet and dazzle the crowd with a performance that will never be forgotten. Her second grade teacher (Mrs. Alford) was her mentor and made sure Shanda never missed an assignment. She also made sure Shanda had a private tutor which was her music teacher who helped Shanda rehearse her lines and music for the production. Shanda moved away to the big city metro Atlanta with her family to start a new life apart from her physical disability which was no more "thanks to God and a surgical procedure that put Shanda's life and career on a whole new path. Shanda was learning how to engage as a child with very active children in her community. She had to learn to roller skate, play sports, and ride a bike which were the very things the doctors said she would never do. She proved everyone wrong and became the advocate for children with disabilities in her school and in her community. She would organize stage shows, talent shows, and sporting activities for the whole neighborhood. She created Special Olympic games right in her own backyard for those that we wheelchair bound and became a pillar of strength for children who were feeble and small who wanted to participate and have a voice in a number of community activities. She would be a voice for the hearing impaired at her school. Years later, she named her daughter after her best friend in fourth grade who was deaf in both ears named (Leigh) because she admired her bravery to leave a school that defined her for this impediment rather than her capability. Shanda fought for many causes even as a child. She became the poster girl for many of her peers for small accomplishments that could not measure her purpose or potential to be the very best that she could be in a world that dictated her limits instead of removing the boundaries her past created around her. Little did Shanda know that these private achievements now made public would play the leading roles in the success she can now proclaim as her own. Shanda had to form a team of newscasters for a school project and her team won second place countywide. Shanda was the weather girl and her teacher was so impressed with her ability to connect with the audience and her skillful ways of conducting herself in front of the camera that he submitted the video to a number of news channels in the Metro Atlanta area where she received a certificate, a tour of a local news station, and a personal mentor that encouraged her to pursue her career in public broadcasting. Shanda could not run from her path of success. It seemed to follow her everywhere she would go such as junior high when she entered a school talent show where she received a monetary prize, radio air time with a disk jockey on a local radio station, and a certificate for first place in the singing competition and second place overall in the talent show. It was time for Shanda to move away from her esteemed success in junior high where she relocated with her family to a middle class community in the suburbs, Ellenwood, Georgia, where she attended high school. Shanda decided to use her platform for singing and acting in the church for plays and musicals. She spent much of her high school years focusing on her writing because she wanted to be an English teacher like her mentors in years past. Shanda graduated from high school and left home to pursue her college dream. After a couple of years away from home, her family became increasingly concerned about her physical condition and arranged for her to come back home. She finished school in Atlanta and taught school in the public and private sector for approximately 10 years while still being a child advocate for children who were sexually and physically abused. She is very active in the faith-based community as a leader and a voice in the political and spiritual arena. Shanda is linked in as the CEO and President of a multimillion dollar corporation that she is now working to build from the ground up in the United States. Shanda is the accomplished author of "Heaven's Secret Garden" a collection of children's books that she writes based on her own perception of her childhood and adult experiences in Christianity and everyday life. She has written a collection of music in circulation based on "Heaven's Secret Garden" itself, the ministry and the book. Shanda did marry briefly on February 14, 1997 in a private ceremony with just a small circle of family and friends. The age gap led others to believe that Shanda was co-ersed into the marriage. She tried to get the marriage annulled stating that her husband married her under false pretenses. However, the marriage was consummated and a child was conceived so the annulment was denied. Shanda gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl named Alliyah D. Holder. Shanda filed for divorce and the divorce was granted on June 1, 2000 in Atlanta. Shanda was awarded permanent custody of Alliyah and continued to raise her child with the help of her parents in difficult times. Shanda is an esteemed leader in ministry and many other arenas as she will continue to do so with her daughter by her side.