Playing pro football, she lived her dream
“Being a little country girl from Beaumont, I was always tomboyish. Although I wasn’t very girly, I was a cheerleader all through school. My junior year, I got kicked off the squad because I had the...
Spoken word poet tells Da Truth
“To get my book out there, I was told that I needed to perform my poetry. And I was like, ‘Um, no.’ I’ve been performing since I was 3, singing at church, in the school choir,...
Poetry emerges from heartbreaking loss
“I was 26 years old. It was my first pregnancy. I was healthy. I was athletic. Then it just happened. They told me, ‘Your cervix is gone.’ I had what’s called an incompetent cervix. It can...
Now she helps others with their addictions
“If it was not for what I’d gone through, then I couldn’t do what I do now. I’m what’s called a mental health and addiction recovery peer support specialist. Simply by the word peer, it means...
From life of drugs to recovery coach
“By the time I was about 25, I started running around with people who did things that were just unheard of when I was growing up. That’s how I got into drugs. Except for the four...
‘I literally fell in love with him all over again’
“We’re a combined family. He has seven kids from his previous marriage and I have two. I also have custody of my two grandkids, so together we have 11. Eight of them live at home. “After...
Mechanic fixes his way to her heart
Roger: “I hadn’t seen my two brothers in Michigan in quite a while, so I went up there to visit. One day while I was driving to the park, I noticed a woman whose car was...
Community volunteering is in her blood
“I’ve always been part of a hard-working family that stays in church and finds ways to serve and help others. “When I get involved with projects and organizations, I go into it wanting to help. Just...
‘Miracle baby’ believes she’s here for a reason
“I was born premature, three months early. I weighed 1 pound, 11 ounces. Doctors said I had a 50-50 chance to survive. And that if I did survive, I would have all kinds of health issues,...
COVID vaccine provides ‘sense of relief’
“I got my first shot in mid-December. It was the first day we started administering them at the hospital. We found out that we were able to fill more vaccines per vile than originally thought. As...
