Michael Barclift

A Day at the fare, is an excellent read. It is a true story about how a young mother of two, who lived in a nice middle class environment with two incomes, suddenly had to leave her comfortable home because her man became violent. He was a Vietnam veteran with mental health and anger issues. He hit her in the head with a hand gun and knocked her out cold. She decided to leave. When she left, she had an old beat up car, a rental truck, and only $900 to her name. So she drove to Jacksonville Florida and checked into a cheap hotel in a town where no one knew her. She began looking for housing, while she did, every day of the hotel stay and rental truck was eating away at her $900. She had to pay for gas and mileage on the truck rental along with food and diapers for her toddler as well as deal with the reckless, self destructive behavior of her 9 year old son. She went on welfare and details every disgusting, invasive, judgmental moment of this process. She had random strangers pop up at her house to check on her living situation and monitor her parental effectiveness. She lived for a full year without heat or air conditioning. And also survived a pretty long time without a refrigerator or stove. She had to deal with rats, a burglary and the loss of her best friend to crack addiction. She found the strength to fight through it all. God, the Universe, the Ancestors or her Angels (whatever you wanna call it) came through for her just when she needed it the most. She enrolled in school and from there met the important people who would help her elevate her life and create opportunities. She also found a sense of accomplishment and pride as she made good grades and learned new skill sets. Her eldest son was eventually taken from her a few times and she struggled with guilt, shame and mixed emotions. This journey lasted just under four years before she could write a letter to the city declaring that her name be removed from the state welfare rolls. She did it! And her story is so inspiring. If you have ever had to struggle, you should read this book and gain optimism and hope that we have the power inside us all to overcome extremely difficult circumstances. Although there are many heavy and sad moments in this book, I still enjoyed it. I met Pamela Covington while she was writing this book and I knew that she was strong, determined and kind. What a blessing to us all that she shared her story that others may learn from and find the strength to persevere. It is amazing to read how much drama she went through only to make it on the other side. A true success story. Pamela Covington’s “A day at the fare” has become one of my favorite books that I’ve read. It is definitely in my top twenty five all time.