Tables turned

Yesterday I was able to meet six people from different walks of life within a 6-hour time span.

The first was 10-year-old Jessica who I met in a new home set to be raffled off in Bossier City. The proceeds went to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a place Jessica knows very well.

I never would have guessed that this friendly little girl, bright-eyed and full of smiles, was 10 – or a cancer survivor.

When she was 7, she was diagnosed with Level 4 Rhabdomyosarcoma (and when I asked how to spell it, Jessica rattled it off like a pro.) It was discovered when she developed a tumor the size of a softball on her right thigh.

Now that she’s doing better, Jessica wants to educate others on the rare disease, “Because me and my mommy weren’t aware,” she said.

I was amazed by this little girl who spoke better than most adults and truly cared about others. She wanted people to donate to the fundraiser to help the other kids at the hospital while she focused on spreading the word about childhood cancer. She also made sure to tell me about her 4th grade teacher who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and she wanted to wish her good luck.

And Jessica didn’t just want to tell her story. Before I left she made sure to suggest that I talk to some of the other kids at St. Jude.

From there I went to one of the poorer neighborhoods in Shreveport where a photographer and I spent time with some shotgun house residents.

Most were 50 years old or older and had lived in their homes for many years. I met one man who had been homeless at one point and now loved his house that only costs him $125 a month. Another man had been relocated to his current house after Interstate 49 was built through his old neighborhood.
I even spoke to a homeless man that is living in an abandoned shotgun house because he’d rather be there than a homeless shelter.

They all had stories to tell, reasons why their lives followed the path they have.

I went home last night feeling a little more enlightened. I think at times even the most open-minded people can have narrow-minded moments, simply because of the fact that it’s hard to think outside of what you know, what you have personally experienced.

I didn’t have to suffer through a terrible childhood disease. I’ve never had to live in low-income housing. I’ve never been homeless. But each of those people touched me and taught me things through their stories that I wouldn't have learned in a classroom or a book.

See, being a journalist isn’t just about what you do for your readers. Sometimes it’s what your readers do for you.