Month: July 2025

by

Reflections or Reality

For most of my life

I have existed only

in the minds of others

as those closest to me

projected their dreams

or their fears onto me

and defined me by

their own ideas of who I am

and I became a reflection

of other people

rather than fleshing out

my own identity

and knowing which

ideals and hopes

and dreams I truly embodied

or which ones were handed to me

as gifts wrapped with barbs

of control and unacceptance

hoping I could be changed into

a worthy accessory to complement

your own wardrobe of fading aspirations

and broken paths that never led

to a place that filled your own desires for

becoming something more or different

than who you were born to be

and I disappointed so many

when I healed the scars you left behind

and found myself hidden in places

you had not allowed me to journey to

because you could not release me

to find my truths and claim my words

and discover that I was more worthy

than you wanted me to know

and I looked to see me and

found the healed and hungry soul

waiting for me to open the doors

hope had been offering me a key to

so I could name myself and hold onto

the words and beliefs that had taken root

in my mind and defined who I now could

break free and be…look to see me…

—Chris Pepple 2025

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When You Take Away Hope

When you take away hope and opportunity for families to succeed, you weaken families, communities, and our nation as a whole. It breaks my heart that this nation passed a bill that will significantly cut Medicaid…a program that literally saved my life at one point. In Tennessee, it’s called Tenncare. When my husband left when the kids were younger, the health insurance was in his name. The court ordered him to continue to cover the kids, but he quit his job so he wouldn’t have to. I had to scramble to find a full-time job so I could cover healthcare for the three of us. I did, but…a few years down the road, my kids and my aging parents with dementia needed me. I took several part-time jobs so I could have a more flexible schedule, working 50 hours a week, but with the flexibility to schedule around appointments.

We were without healthcare until I enrolled in Tenncare. I was working three part-time jobs and was a primary caregiver for my children and a parent with Alzheimer’s. I wasn’t lazy (as the label seems easy to toss around by those wanting to end the program)…I wasn’t a “deadbeat” (word I hear a lot when I listen to the wealthy talking about why we should end certain programs)…I was “pulling myself up by my own boot straps” (another phrase often carelessly tossed at people in need) and was “being financially independent.” I paid taxes, paid my bills, and took care of my family while my ex-husband fought child support and quit jobs rather than pay it. Tenncare saved us…we got medical care when I needed to be present for my family. I’m not still on it. I was only on it for about three years until I bought my own insurance through the Affordable Care Act and then was able to go back to work full-time rather than work multiple part-time jobs.

What did I do with my life on Tenncare:

*worked 50 hours a week on three part-time jobs,
*raised my two kids as a single mom,
*took care of my aging parents…both eventually with Alzheimer’s.

What do my friends who rely on Medicaid for their families do:

*work,
*raise children with disabilities or face their own disabilities,
*take care of aging parents (which can run $200-800 dollars a day every day depending on their diagnosis).

Those who voted for this bill want to use language that implies Medicaid is a handout for people who don’t deserve it. Look at the truth of what Medicaid does. It saves lives…it builds stronger families…it offers hope in challenging times. So sad that we as a nation will turn our backs on those in need.