Compare and Contrast Essay – Ms. E.B. & Tasha Madix
People live different lives. Through hard struggles and tough times, they manage to pull through and try to make better lives for themselves. In the stories of Ms. EB and Tasha Madix (Recipe for Hope), they both went through the similar struggle of feeling like no one wanted them. Whether they are homeless because of rough times and family problems as in Ms. EB’s story or they are in and out of foster care as in Tasha Madix, they are both people dealing with the similar struggles of unstable homes and difficult living situations. Their differences vary within their stories; Ms. EB’s story is about forbearance (patience) and Tasha Madix’s story is about hope.
Growing up in an unstable household was a constant in both stories. They both went through tough times and struggled with their living
situations and unstable homes. Both eventually became homeless at some point. Ms. EB was “homeless by choice” (75). This was because of her living
situations. Her sister-in-law was stealing her things, ripping off her mother-in-law and also selling drugs from the house. Throughout her
struggles she decided instead of being home and dealing with everything that the going on, she would leave and stay at a shelter. Her husband eventually left her family to follow her. In Tasha’s story, she was homeless because she felt like no one loved her, for her. She was given up at birth, adopted because the parents wanted someone for their child to play with and was in foster care until her biological family claimed her. She was lied to and cheated by all of her family members which led her to being homeless. She went straight to Chicago after work one day (148). She states she “never felt like she had a home with her family” (148).
Another similarity between the two stories was that in the end, both Ms. EB and Tasha Madix had strong support systems and were able to recover from
their hardships and find a place they called home. Tasha Madix was able to forgive her brother’s father, her adopted family and her biological family. The forgiveness that she had allowed her to“have a good marriage, a good life, and actually feel good about herself”(149). Tasha met the love of her life Harry Madix and was able to start a new life with him and her children. He was her support system and a sense of normalcy that she didn’t have in
her life (150). For Ms. EB, she was able to get some help. She sees a counselor and is on medication (81). She was able to get money from the
Inspiration Café to apply for SRO. She received it and is now helping her son to take care of his children. Her husband stayed by her side and was her support system. He left his family and chose to be with her even if it meant being homeless and living in a shelter (80). In the end, she survived and considers herself a survivor (81). Both Ms. EB and Tasha were able to turn their lives around, by finding someone or receiving help from others.
Many aspects of Ms. EB and Tasha are very similar, but also there are many differences within their stories. Ms. EB’s story was all about
patience. She had patience when she dealt with her husband and son in the penitentiary. She had patience when living with her in-laws, and she had patience when dealing with all the family issues that arose. She dealt with so much and was able to have patience through it all. Ms. EB never gave up. She was always trying to make living situations work out. She didn’t want to live in the house with her sister-in-law and just got tired of taking the abuse. She was homeless by choice (80). Tasha Madix story was about hope. She was lied to her whole life. Her biological mother was too unstable to take care of her. She bounced around from living with an adopted family, to a foster home, to a home with her biological family to find out they only wanted her to live with them because she reminded them of her mother. She hoped that she could find someone who loved her for the person she was.
These two stories truly show the stories of forbearance (patience) and hope. They both had the similar characteristics of both being homeless, finding happiness and having a person to support them at the end of their story. Reading these stories helps to motivate people and show that no matter
where life takes you, good will always prevail.
References:
Skalitzky, Karen M, Recipe for Hope, ACTA Publications, Stokie IL, 2006