One Mother's World Michael and his grandmother WEYMOUTH- At the center of all their loss, six-year-old Michael Sampson is smiling--running around the banquet room at the Elks Lodge, making dizzy circles on the dance floor, grabbing hold of the hands of his friends. It's a gift to the adults in the room to see the way he smiles. He is so clearly his mother's son. "I just love looking at him," says Saquora Lowe, a family friend. Several months have passed since 25-year-old Heather Smith died in a car crash, leaving this boy behind. The dozens of people at this fundraiser remember well what "Mikey" meant to her. Of course they do. He was her reason for rising in the morning. The $20 ticket for tonight's dance is not easy for everyone here to afford. But these people already put years into raising Heather, from a shy, awkward shell of herself to the strong, single parent she would later become. These are the people she loved the most- the sister she protected from bullies, the friend she kept close after his brother died. They are here, now, to take care of her son. | About This BlogWelcome to The Small Story, a blog about the lives of everyday people in Massachusetts- the challenges they face, the celebrations they make, and the communities they like to call home.
It’s a natural extension of the eight years I spent as a newspaper reporter, first at The Hartford Courant, then at The Seattle Times. Time and again, the small story pulled me in: the first day of school for a boy displaced by Hurricane Katrina, the final months of foster care for a tired teenager, the slow road to recovery for an injured Iraq War veteran and his mother. I work full-time as an editor now, and write this blog on the side. In the rush of reality TV, and minute-by-minute media coverage, the small story still says something important to me, about who we are, and how we live in this country. Here’s hoping you feel the same. - Cara Solomon Email:cara@thesmallstory.com Twitter: csmallstory Become a fan of The Small Story on Facebook, or shoot me an email and I'll put you on a "new story alert" list! Thanks for reading...  CategoriesAll ArchivesFebruary 2010 |
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