About Me

I’m Natasha Maughan

Natasha Maughan was born in London on Feb 11, 1976. At the age of 4, her family relocated to Barbados, her parents’ birthplace. During her years in Barbados, Natasha developed a love for dance and was always the performer, choreographing dances with her cousins and ‘treating’ the family to concerts every summer. At a young age, Natasha knew she wanted to be a choreographer and it was clear to all that to her, dance was life.

London

Natasha moved back to London at 16 where she gained a National Diploma in Performing Arts, majoring in Dance. During this time, she became active at her local church within the youth group and Creative Worship teams. By the age of 18, Natasha’s reputation of being the resident dancer was set, and Natasha was living the life she always wanted – a life of dance. One day, while at a rehearsal at college, Natasha realized that at times it was a challenge to say her lines. She found that her mouth had to work a little bit harder to form words and she was becoming a little bit clumsier than usual. Thinking that it was simply a case of overexertion, Natasha ignored it, until one day, her colleague asked her if she was ok. The small inconveniences had become noticeable to others, so Natasha decided to speak to the nurse, even if just to put her friend’s mind at ease. After recounting her symptoms, the nurse told Natasha that she could have Multiple Sclerosis. Immediately, Natasha dismissed the idea and self-diagnosed it as fatigue, but the symptoms got worse. By the time Natasha and her sister went to the doctor to find out what was going on, Natasha’s speech was slurred and walking was almost impossible. An MRI scan later, the diagnosis was in, Natasha had MS.

The MS diagnosis changed Natasha, yet Natasha did not change. Tests were carried out, medication is given, she even moved back to Barbados to be with her mother. However, Natasha’s essence stayed the same and her fire for life was never extinguished. Natasha would tell people “I was diagnosed with MS; I don’t have MS!” Through it all, Natasha learned to bring the disease under control, and eventually, it went into remission.

Love

At the age of 24, while living in Barbados, Natasha happened to see an old school friend on the street of the city. He stopped her for a conversation. “What are you doing in October?” he asked (it was August at the time and the question was unrelated to anything they had been talking about.) “Err… no plans I guess” (Natasha was cautious) “Why do you want to know?” A smile came across his face. “I think that would be a good time for us to get married!” On December 31st, 2007, Jerry and Natasha DID get married, 5 years and 2 months later than Jerry had planned, however exactly on time!

Moving

In 2010, at the height of Barack Obama’s presidency and with a newborn baby, Jerry and Natasha decided to move to Boston. Jerry was born in New York, so as a citizen there were countless opportunities in this new land for the young family. By June of that year and with $800 in their pocket, the Maughans relocated and lived in a friend’s spare bedroom for 8 months. By the time they moved to a 2-bedroom apartment, their son, Jair was 14 months old and Natasha was going through the permanent residency process. It was not until February 2012 that Natasha and Jair received their permanent residency cards and Natasha would be eligible to work. Two weeks after receiving her green card, Natasha started working through a temping agency. One week after she started her job, Natasha found out she was pregnant.

Going Home

Jerry, Natasha, Jair, and Najee quite happily in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Boston. Up to this time, Natasha had never even considered being an author, however in 2015, that all changed.

On June 16th, 2015, businessman Donald Trump announced that he was running for the presidency. His platform of choice was to be illegal immigration, domestic terrorism, and making America “great again”. With his growing popularity, the national conversation took a marked step towards a more segregated society and the idea that America was for the Caucasian people. Like most people of color, this rhetoric bothered Natasha. One question kept going through her mind, “What would happen if everyone DID go back to where they came from?” Unable to find a suitable and logical answer, Natasha decided to try to answer the question herself. For the next week, Natasha started to flesh out her idea in the form of a short story, however, work and family commitments soon made it impossible to focus on. The story sat untouched for the next 8 weeks.

In September of 2015, Natasha received a call from her childcare provider. There had been a leak in the building and they would be closed for the next two weeks. This unplanned hiatus from work became the gift of time Natasha needed. As she stayed home with Najee, Natasha worked tirelessly on her book and by the time the child care had reopened, ‘Going Home’ was complete.