At Risk: Stories of Hope

I changed the way I measure my wealth.  I used to measure it by the amount of material things I owned like a built in pool out in the country and my farmhouse in Michigan.  I had arthritis and had plenty of insurance to obtain medicine whenever my ankle would become inflamed and prevent me from walking.

Now I live in Kauai.  The weather here is very mild, so I no longer swell up like I did in Michigan.  My son, Hector was a semifinalist in Hawaii’s Congressional Art Contest when we first arrived.  My wife is teaching kindergarten in Ele’ele.  Her students are tiny.  She used to be Jalen Rose’s Spanish teacher at Detroit Southwestern.  She comes home with a new generation of stories.  Her former student, Maria Costa of Brimstone Pictures, keeps in contact, so she is happy.

I just got a job with an at risk program at Kapa’a in Kauai.  The teacher said that she would love to infuse more art and have a male as a role model for the young men.  I measure my wealth by the opportunities to teach and by my children’s accomplishments.   I think I have only lint in my pocket, but the view outside my window is priceless and free.