Keisha

Keisha’s five words are Friendly, Reliable, Helpful, Caring, Honest. She is a mother of three and a grandmother of one in a Northeastern state. For fifteen years she worked as a medical assistant and receptionist; in 2020 she was working from home in a temporary job, calling people who had been exposed to COVID-19. Her wish to help others comes from experience: there are so many people in the world that have nothing it could be love clothes motivation food trust me I’ve been there.

Her defining moments are about the people who steadied her. The first is her son: Delivery of my first born it gave me a chance to love and my son was the best gift ever. He made her grow up: Knowing that I had a child it helped me make better decisions also such as attending school. Soon after, she finished school as a medical assistant. The second is her father: Having a father is so meaningful. From him she learned How to be strong and independent, and they speak every day. She names losses too: a long-held job, and a surgical technician program she left three classes short. One reading is that her story is told through relationships more than events: a son, a father, a church.

Her hardest moment came when she was forced to move with nowhere to go. She sold nearly everything she owned, moved north and stayed with family until she found a place. I had nothing deposit furniture nothing and it was hard and cried because I had kids but I prayed about it God made a way. Her superpower is one word, Praying. Under stress she will Pray cry write poems. One line she shared reads: My heart is feels so heavy why can't it be heavy from love, joy, laughter? She worries, she says, about what people say about me.

Food comes from her father. He cooks nearly every Sunday, enough for two days, and taught her seafood gumbo, collards, mac and cheese, lima beans. She and her teenage daughter shop together and take turns cooking. She chose Sad, Full, Sweet, bad, weak for her eating, and explains: I choose full because I feel full all the time. Rather it be with love or emotions. Sweets are for every emotion bored sad and angry; during a hard stretch with her son it was carrot cake. Rheumatoid arthritis keeps her from exercising as she would like. She calls her habits horrible but i have good intentions.

Day 3 found her in the middle of a change. After watching a documentary about plant-based eating, she wrote, im having change of heart, and then: I love animals and food. I’m having second feelings about what I’m eating when it come downs to animals. Would she try a vegan diet? I’m really trying to do it. I want to feel and look better.

On Day 5 she wants to eat healthy and stop eating fas food, hoping for weight loss and possibly no more hypertension. She names the barrier as her own mind: every time I want to start something to better my health I never some through with it. What would help: Maybe someone else doing it with me, an echo of her first day, I think I just need to do with someone. Her wish for a partner runs through all five days. Her letter begins with a promise kept: I told you that it was going to work out.