Ancestry - Rainer was born in Berlin, Germany in the midst of WWII.

Ancestry directs our destiny. By the time Rainer was three months old he was a refugee. For almost three years, his mother and small sister fled from the fighting armies. From 1945 to 1955, he lived in a small peasant village of 12 houses.

Since most of the cities in Germany had been destroyed the government forced peasant villages to take in refugees. The peasants hated this imposition and often were hateful to these outsiders.

During his early years, Rainer, went to bed hungry most nights and walked barefoot from the last snow in the spring to the first snow in the fall.

Barbara Dust, Rainer's mother, as a baby.

Valeria never went without the necessities of life.

Aunt Bertha Ogg Ray and Valeria in Lake Como at their house on Libbey Street.

However growing up black in American is no picnic. She was a precocious child exhibiting early artistic and spiritual leanings.

Valeria and her best friend in first grade, Delphine Chapelle, with their teacher Mrs. Goodspeed.

Prone to seeing things that others could not see she soon learned to avoid the questioning looks of adults by keeping her observations to herself.

This included her early realization of adult spiritual and racial hypocrisy which was not limited by ones Ancestry.

Classie Stanford, Valeria's great, great, grandmother...on her fathers side.

Southern Baptist ministers do not take kindly to girls who question them. She wanted to become and artist and a minister.

“Black girls don’t become ministers.” “Girl, you are black so get these foolish notions out of your head. "Black girls don’t become artists,” said Valeria's Aunt Bertha, never having seen one. Once again ancestry sets the limitations of destiny.