When Lucille O’Neal released her first memoir, Walk Like You Have Somewhere to Go: My Journey from Mental Welfare to Mental Health, in 2010, her son was on a goodbye tour of the NBA. She wasn’t known as an author and even her philanthropy was secondary to Shaq. For 19 seasons of Shaquille O’Neal’s career, his mother was rarely known by her own name. Over a decade since then, and through Shaq’s thriving second act, Lucille also rediscovered herself and penned it in her new memoir, While I Have Your Attention: It’s Never Too Late for a New Beginning. And it wasn’t easy getting to this point.

“I lost my identity when Shaquille got drafted to the NBA,” Lucille confessed to Essence recently. And no, she doesn’t say that grudgingly. “People didn’t know who I was or only referred to me as being Shaq’s mom.” Lucille has gone from a teen mom to a college graduate, a philanthropist, and a speaker. With her children’s support, the mom of four held her own and her new memoir shows it. “I’m more than Shaq’s mom; I have other children, too. So, this book is more than a memoir; it became my testimony,” she says.

“I went through some things and wanted people to know that God always has a plan for us,” Lucille said, referring to having Shaq at 17 while his biological father refused all responsibility.

She proceeded to say, “I now have a platform where I can speak on things, and I’m so happy I’m able to share. I can encourage people and motivate them. I don’t try to be perfect. But I do know that what God did for me, He can do for you too.” One of those platforms is through her writings.

While I Have Your Attention is about Lucille becoming more than an NBA mom. The tagline though – It’s Never Too Late for a New Beginning – is how she accomplished that.

Lucille gives true picture of the O’Neal family

Ever since Shaquille O’Neal was selected first overall in the 1992 draft, his parents and three younger siblings were in the spotlight too. Shaq’s triumph over a difficult childhood was a popular story in the media. However, Lucille told Essence that their family was more than that. So she seized the opportunity to talk about her family through her memoir.

“Being a mother of children who play basketball or get into the world of entertainment causes you to reflect a lot. Who am I without all of this attention that’s being brought on to the family? So, I just re-examined myself,” Lucille admitted. She went on that self-discovering journey by resuming school.

Shaq paid for her tuition at Bethune-Cookman University and University of Phoenix. She refers to her son’s unconditional aid as a ‘blessing’ many times.

Dr Lucille O’Neal hopes her memoir will inspire other parents realize, it’s never too late to realize their dreams too. Her book released earlier this month and is now available everywhere.