Recorded at KenCrest Services April 2015.
About Mike
Mike has worked at KenCrest for 24 years.
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LIVES LIVED APART interview with Mike recorded April 23, 2015
Ben: I'm done. So should we begin?
Staff: Yeah, whatever you want.
Ben: Alright so where were you born?
Mike: I was born in 68 February 8th.
Ben: But where?
Mike: My birthday is February 8th.
Ben: No but where were you born? Where are you from?
Mike: (Inaudible) in a house, a group home with two staff. Chuck and me. I want to tell you something, OK? (Inaudible) My sugar is low. OK? Yesterday my sugar is low. I got a 58. It jumped down and low. I have to watch my sugar.
Ben: Yeah.
Mike: And I will tell you about that. I passed out. Last week...
Ben: You passed out?
Mike: Yeah, last week in my room. This is my neck. I was stuck in my bed. I couldn't move.
Ben: Yeah, that's not good.
Mike: Here, I will show you. I got this.
Ben: Oh you got the bracelet?
Mike: And my neck. I will get this off me.
Ben: Yeah.
Mike: Look at it.
Ben: OK, it has all the information then. Yeah.
Mike: Yeah, it does.
Ben: It says you're diabetic. Do you have any major problems with that?
Mike: Let's see. My sugar yesterday. The staff should have gave me my sugar. It was low. Yesterday I got (inaudible) and my orange juice. It made my sugar go down.
Ben: OK.
Mike: (Inaudible) I've got to watch my sugar.
Ben: Yeah.
Mike: This is down. This is up, I've got to watch my sugar.
Ben: You've got to keep it on track?
Mike: Yeah?
Ben: How was school like for you growing up?
Mike: What did you say?
Ben: What was school like for you?
Mike: Oh.
Ben: Did you like school?
Mike: I was in school a long time ago. I was there. I was with my staff. (Inaudible). We go out and see my school in there. They miss me. I miss my school. I had fun there. I got school in my phone with me now.
Ben: Oh really?
Mike: I got school here.
Ben: You have school in there?
Mike: In my phone, yes. It's in there now.
Ben: That's cool.
Mike: Yeah. I got () in there, college in there. Anything, it works. (Inaudible). I do his. He know me. My mom and dad, they died and my family. My brother Joe; you don't know my brother. He died too. He was cooking.
Ben: I'm sorry.
Mike: He burned himself. He burned cooking. He burned. He died and my sister. You don't know my sister. She died. They all died on me.
Ben: That must be tough.
Mike: Yeah.
Ben: So I saw your job. Do you like your job?
Photos by JJ Tiziou
A Fierce Kind of Love has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.