My American Dream
Saturday, I spoke at one of the largest, swankiest libraries in the area. The Vancouver Community Library. The place is amazing! It has five floors, totaling 83,000 square feet. On the fifth-floor there’s an outdoor terrace with a view of the Columbia River – spectacular!
I arrived early to take it all in, and to set-up: Make sure the microphone was working, add a few more slides to my presentation, get the feel of the room. As I walked around the 2,000 square foot Columbia Room, I was beaming with pride, satisfaction. I am one lucky gal, I thought to myself. I am living the dream. My dream. For a long time, I was chasing The American Dream. The dream of my great-grandparents generation: Go to college, get married, buy a house with a picket-fence, have 2.5 kids, and retire from a company with a pension. That worked pretty well for that generation, but I’m from the new school. A generation who seizes opportunities, creates opportunities.
I decided to pave my own path. I found a niche. I started blogging, and sharing my weight loss story to anyone who would listen. I didn’t really know what it would lead to, but so far so good. I’ve been active in the community: Speaking in venues such as the Vancouver Community Library, hosting cooking classes and sharing my love for good real food at Chuck’s Produce & Street Market, having my Simply Unforgettable Tomato Soup sold in the deli at New Seasons Market, and authoring not one, but two cookbooks in less than a year. I’ve seized opportunities, probably even created a few. I’m grateful, thankful and full of pride and joy. I am living my American Dream.
Chrisetta Mosley
I am a product – and now a survivor – of childhood obesity. As a child, my family always told me that my extra weight was merely baby fat and I’d eventually grow out of it. I never did. Instead, my childhood is filled with memories of not being able to ride a bike, flattening its training wheels from being over the recommended weight, and avoiding P.E. classes by any means necessary. For years, I wore my fatness like a wounded soldier wears a Purple Heart - with pride. I owned the look. I dressed it up. I worked the room. There wasn't a skinny girl who intimidated me. I made sure my hair was laid just right. Nails polished. Outfits coordinated to the tee. Accessories to compliment every outfit. But everyone has a breaking point, and mine came in the spring of 2004 when I tipped the scale at nearly 400 pounds 388 to be exact. I was MISERABLE trapped inside of that body. I no longer wore my Purple Heart with pride. Rather, I was ashamed and frightened. Ashamed that I had allowed food to become my everything – frightened I would die because of it. Drastic times called for drastic measures... Today, I’m bound and determined to live a better, healthier, active lifestyle. I realize I’m no longer a passenger in my life, I’m the driver. I’m overcoming my inhibitions and I’m slowly but surely saying farewell to my old childhood nemesis, obesity. For once and for all, Farewell Fatso!