2021/2022
Collection 17

Rags to Riches

1958–1981; St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Pa was fifteen years old when his father died. His mother just wanted to get married, so she married a guy who could not stand kids.

One day Pa’s stepdad told Pa’s mother, “You gotta choose him or me, because I’m leaving if he stays.”

Pa’s mother chose his stepdad. Pa was overall a good kid, but his stepdad just didn’t want a kid like Pa. Pa’s older sister was already grown and married, and had her life together. His nine-year-old brother was too young to be on his own. But Pa’s stepdad didn’t want a teenager like Pa just taking up space in his house and wasting money. So Pa’s mom changed the locks on the doors, took as much of Pa’s clothes as she could carry, threw them outside, and that was it.

Pa walked up to his house, and to his horror his clothes were scattered across his front lawn. It was 5:30 p.m. when Pa took his clothes and walked four blocks to an uncle’s house. Pa knocked on the door and said, “I just got thrown out. Can I stay here?”

His uncle replied, “No, because your mother owes me money for dry cleaning.” So Pa walked for a long time, and he ended up sleeping in a car.

A week later Pa somehow got a phone call, and it was from the parents of one of his friends. They told him, “We heard about what happened to you. We have a grocery store, and we want you to meet us there.”

The next day Pa went to meet them, and when he got there they handed him an apron. They told him, “We are going to give you a job, and you can earn money.” Pa worked till 9:30 that night, and they told him, “We’ll give you a ride.” Pa told them he had nowhere to go, and they said, “Get in. We’ll take care of you.”

They took him to their house, took him inside, and said, “This is your home for as long as you need.”

This was what got Pa on his way to college. He got a scholarship that got him into UMSL(1) and gave him free housing. One semester later he got another scholarship to Mizzou’s School of Journalism. After that, he worked five jobs and got enough money to keep paying tuition for the rest of college.

After Pa graduated, he began buying people’s rags and selling them to recycling companies. In 1981, he began his own paper-recycling business that thrived and made him millions.

Alyssa Dean; Missouri, USA

1. “UMSL” stands for “University of Missouri — St. Louis.”

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