“I have been a  driver for Fed Ex for three months. I was laid off of my job doing drafting work. I am forty-something years old and live with my parents. I have a setback and always end up going back to them. They are a tremendous blessing to me, but it is hard living at home again in a place that has so many memories, good and bad. It breaks my heart to be there everyday seeing my parents getting older and I am getting older, too. I want to be on my own again. When I get to the point that I feel like I am rising up, life gets harder. I know that God has a plan for my life and I need to keep moving forward. My cousin is home from Delaware and we went to lunch today with a classmate. They are both doing well with nice homes, I laughed and talked, but I felt like they were looking down on me. I can’t think about what other people think or compare where I am to where they are. I know that, but it is hard not to do it. I want a job with benefits where I can work until I retire. I have dreams of having my own house and my own husband, but they haven’t happened yet. I have never been married.  It is hard for a black female who is single not being able to support herself. I want to do better than this. Life looks so easy for other people. I try to look intact on the outside even if I am falling apart on the inside.”