Missouri
Mohamed
Kansas City, MO
I met Mohamed at Case Park in Kansas City, MO, which is a bit of a gathering place for sunset watchers. I'm sure it was always popular, but now with Covid and people trying to keep gatherings outside, it seems even more ideal.
Mohamed is twenty-three and from New Hampshire, but he moved to Kansas City to be near family. He works at Dominos. "The last year has been rough, but it has also just been boring,” he told me. “If I'm not working, I'm watching TV.”
Kenny, Manae…
St. Louis, MO
Kenny told me he’d owned a men's clothing store in the heart of St. Paul on University Avenue for 13 years, but it was destroyed this past summer—along with more than 200 other businesses along that stretch—during the unrest that followed the killing of George Floyd. They said the months that followed were extremely tough on the family, but the amount of support they received from friends, family, community, and even strangers was tremendously helpful.
Cindy & Bill
Warsaw, MO
"The love language in our household is sarcasm," Cindy told me as she and her husband, Bill, joked around. And all seven of their children and their eight grandchildren are fluent as well. Bill and Cindy will have their 43rd anniversary soon, and they met in high school in Kansas City, where one of them was introverted and the other was a troublemaker—though they didn't specify which was which.