His name was Joe.
Joe was born in a cappuccino beige colored hospital located across the street from a fire station. This hospital provided a good sum of the taxable jobs that were available in the small farm town located in central Texas. Texas was the starting point but Joe’s family relocated before he was able to read, write or articulate the words that labeled the surrounding towns and cities. His family began their migration before he could clearly enunciate the phonetic sounds of any English words. He was often curious where in Texas he and his family had resided, but much of the paperwork that offered information about his young life was lost, unretrievable or difficult to read(stained by coffee, butter and age).
Joe would recall a point in time where his family could claim a small, comfortable two bedroom residence as a home. There was one bathroom just behind the mustard yellow dwelling that his family shared during this time period. This home was not far from the southern coastal Florida regions his mom had dreamed about. Joe knew that this residence was sufficient enough in size & he reminisced about the days when his family was together under a single roof. It housed his mother, three siblings and young Joe before they ventured north toward Boston.
Massachusetts was the next state that his mother envisioned a dream of living in. She had heard about the prominent brick veneer of Harvard University, the clean streets of Boston and she knew that Universities were sprinkled about all through the state. She hoped her children would benefit immensely from this relocation as this culture of aspiring young people may very well inspire her offspring to pursue college degrees. Massachusetts would bring a better life, one full of aspiring academics; she thought. She even prayed at night as the lights went dim around the house. She prayed that this move would work out to open new doors for her children.
Joe wasn’t sure how life might have turned out had his family stayed put in Texas or in Florida, he wasn’t sure if this move to Massachusetts was something his family benefitted from or if it was the reason his oldest brother Jason began to move down a wayward path. Joe knew one thing about the Boston area, he loved the trains and he appreciated how accessible the city was with this elaborate train system.
