Cover of The Book My Poem Charmed Is In by Terri Rimmer


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Joy Journal By Terri Rimmer

On March 19, 2008 I found out my oldest sister Joy has Stage One breast cancer. I was going to wait to write about this. It seems that I’m being insensitive (maybe I am) by going ahead and writing about Joy’s diagnosis. Those last two words in that sentence I just wrote look like a foreign language to me. Joy’s Diagnosis. It doesn’t seem real. I’ve always been one to have delayed reactions to things. When my parents told me they were getting divorced as a child I didn’t cry right away, but retreated to my room. I’ve been that way ever since. On the surface I guess it would appear that I am cold but that is hardly the truth at all. I just have always used writing to deal with tragedies and problems in my life. Joy, 52, didn’t get her mammogram done last year because she was busy although she had gotten it the year before. Five years ago her husband of 25 years died in a car accident. She still has her grown daughters (my nieces) and her four grand...
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News Story About Trainer Curly Parenti by Terri Rimmer - originally published by Associated Content, 2008

Cathy "Curly" Parenti, 48, was remembered by family and friends in a funeral service recently at Celebration Community Church in Fort Worth, TX. (Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram). She was a personal trainer born in Chicago, IL Sept. 26, 1960, having once worked as a hairdresser and physical therapy aide and later finding her passion in exercise and fitness, according to her obituary which read "Cathy had sparkling eyes, a knowing, warm smile, and a deep love of people. Cathy touched everyone's heart and will be missed forever by her family and friends." In 2003 I had the pleasure of doing a story on Parenti, a Fort Worth resident, for The Ally Newspaper. I was impressed by her dedication to fitness, enthusiasm for her work, and willingness to help others. As I've said about so many others I've known who have committed sucidie, Parenti was one of the last people you would expect to end their life. According to star-telegram.com, she was preceded in...
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Being Gay and Homeless in the Metroplex by Terri Rimmer - originally published by Associated Content

Between 700,000 and 800,000 people are homeless on any given night. People like Roger and David who when they moved to Dallas thought it would be a haven. Most families become homeless because they are having a housing crisis.  About half of the families experiencing homelessness over the course of a year live in family units and about 38 percent of those homeless within that year are children like the gay youth who represent who represent 20 to 40 percent of homeless youth.  Homeless people report that their major needs are help finding a job, housing, and financial help for the rent such as the couple who lived in their car for about a month getting food from a local pantry and making sandwiches in the car and collecting non-perishables. Twenty percent of the homeless report that they get help finding housing.  In 2002 three days before Christmas Roger and Dave were on a two to three-week waiting list to get into the Samaritan House, a residential facility for thos...
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