Keep Grasping Just Beyond Your Reach, and Never Ever Quit By Didi I was born the sixth child of eight in my family. My parents were both addicts. We got our food from the food pantry or we stole it from the grocery store. My clothes were from the church or the school nurse. I can remember going to a large warehouse and being told that I could pick out one toy for Christmas. I learned that there was no Santa at a very young age. I really had no religious education...I was never was brought to church by my family. I just existed. Everyone ...

My walk to high school in Summit each day took me past a large brick compound called the New England Village Garden Apartments.  The buildings were rectangular and, except for white Colonial door mantels, they were otherwise nondescript. The village was filled with older people, who wanted to stay in town after unloading their homes. Each day, kids like me would walk by, oblivious to the lives and histories behind those doors, blinded by the self-obsession of youth. It wasn’t until 16 years later I learned that Ray Brooks, the ...