Vanette Williams's Story

Vanette Williams was born one October morning in 1953 at Brewster Methodist Hospital. Her dad had just returned home from deployment in the U.S. Navy in time for the birth. Her mother craved watermelon all throughout the pregnancy. She reportedly ate so much of it that she called the small, oval-shaped birthmark on baby Williams’s stomach a watermelon.

“My momma said I was a ‘busy baby.’ I guess because she had to stay on her toes to keep up with me,” Williams said. “I know she had a hard time breaking me of the bottle, but she figured it out.”

One day, when the trash collector came for the trash, Williams’ mother said she should throw her bottle out in the yard where he could get it. So Williams did.

“And that’s the last time I had a bottle.” Williams said.

Soon the family moved to Orlando and then to Cocoa, where Williams’ dad worked at the Kennedy Space Center. She attended Brevard Junior College before returning home to complete her studies at Jacksonville University.

Williams has been with UF Health Jacksonville for nearly 20 years and currently works in the Transitional Care Unit. She loves her work, her co-workers and helping patients.

Baby Pictures of Williams