Story

AP Photos: 'I Got Stories.' A Life of Troubles and Love

October 13, 2020 | Associated Press
By
Wong Maye-E
Tasha Lamm, 30, right, poses with her girlfriend, Alicia Mullins 22, and Lamm's sons, Donovyn, 8, left, and Gabriel Bonice, 7, in front of their home in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Lamm dreams of taking her family and leaving Ohio, the scene of so much personal pain: "I'm ready to leave this hellhole and everyone in it because I know there's something better for me." Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Donovyn Bonice, 8, plays with his dog, Delilah, in their backyard in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Donovyn Bonice, 8, plays with his dog, Delilah, in their backyard in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Tasha Lamm, 30, poses for a portrait in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Lamm’s problems could seem overwhelming: poverty, unemployment, an abusive mother, a boyfriend who died of a heroin overdose. But she is far more than the sum of her hardships. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Tasha Lamm, 30, in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Lamm’s problems could seem overwhelming: poverty, unemployment, an abusive mother, a boyfriend who died of a heroin overdose. But she is far more than the sum of her hardships. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Tasha Lamm, 30, right, poses for a photo with her girlfriend, Alicia Mullins 22, as they prepare dinner in their home in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. “I’ve had this problem with jobs - like authority,” says Lamm, who has been largely on her own since 14 and saw her father, brother and the father of her children succumb to heroin addiction. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Tasha Lamm, 30, right, and her girlfriend, Alicia Mullins, 22, as they prepare dinner in their home in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. “I’ve had this problem with jobs - like authority,” says Lamm, who has been largely on her own since 14 and saw her father, brother and the father of her children succumb to heroin addiction. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Alicia Mullins, 22, poses for a portrait in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Mullins and her girlfriend, Tasha Lamm, were homeless for most of last year, living in a car, before a local social service agency found them a home. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Alicia Mullins, 22, and her girlfriend, Tasha Lamm, were homeless for most of last year, living in a car, before a local social service agency found them a home. Image by Wong Maye-E /AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Gabriel Bonice, 7, left, and his brother, Donovyn, 8, play with a water hose on a hot summer's day at the back of their home in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Gabriel Bonice, 7, left, and his brother, Donovyn, 8, play with a water hose on a hot summer day behind their home in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Image by Wong Maye-E /AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Alicia Mullins, 22, left, and her girlfriend, Tasha Lamm, 30, smoke on their front porch on Monday, July 27, 2020, in Bidwell, Ohio. They were homeless for most of last year, living in a car, before a local social service agency found them the home they've crowded with decorations, from a poster of a stained-glass Jesus rescued from the garbage to a Winnie the Pooh snow globe. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Alicia Mullins, 22, left, and her girlfriend, Tasha Lamm, 30, smoke on their front porch on Monday, July 27, 2020, in Bidwell, Ohio. They were homeless for most of last year, living in a car, before a local social service agency found them the home they've crowded with decorations, from a poster of a stained-glass Jesus rescued from the garbage to a Winnie the Pooh snow globe. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Donovyn Bonice, 8, does a back flip in his mother's room in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Donovyn Bonice, 8, does a back flip in his mother's room in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Tasha Lamm 30, walks into her room while her sons, Donovyn, 8, center, and Gabriel 7, right, watch television in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Lamm and her girlfriend, Alicia Mullins 22, were homeless for most of last year, living in a car, before a local social service agency found them the home they've crowded with decorations, from a poster of a stained-glass Jesus rescued from the garbage to a Winnie the Pooh snow globe. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Tasha Lamm, 30, walks into her room while her sons, Donovyn, 8, center, and Gabriel, 7, right, watch television in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Tasha Lamm, 30, right, and her girlfriend, Alicia Mullins 22, prepare dinner in their apartment in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. They were homeless for most of last year, living in a car, before a local social service agency found them the home. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Tasha Lamm, 30, right, and her girlfriend, Alicia Mullins, 22, prepare dinner in their apartment in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Photographs of Tasha Lamm's late husband, Bradley Bonice, decorates the wall of her sons' room in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. She has seen her father, brother and the father of her children succumb to heroin addiction. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Photographs of Tasha Lamm's late husband, Bradley Bonice, decorate the wall of her sons' room in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. She has seen her father, brother and the father of her children succumb to heroin addiction. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Tasha Lamm, 30, holds up a clay heart with the impression of a footprint and handprint of her daughter who died 6 days after she was born in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Lamm dreams of taking her family and leaving Ohio, the scene of so much personal pain: "I'm ready to leave this hellhole and everyone in it because I know there's something better for me." Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Tasha Lamm, 30, holds up a clay heart with the impression of a footprint and handprint of her daughter, who died 6 days after she was born in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Lamm dreams of taking her family and leaving Ohio, the scene of so much personal pain: "I'm ready to leave this hellhole and everyone in it because I know there's something better for me." Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Donovyn Bonice 8, foreground, plays with his brother Gabriel Bonice, 7, center, in their backyard in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Donovyn Bonice, 8, foreground, plays with his brother, Gabriel Bonice, 7, center, in their backyard in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Alicia Mullins 22, looks at a cabinet full of donated food as she prepares dinner with her girlfriend, Tasha Lamm, 30, in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Alicia Mullins, 22, looks at a cabinet full of donated food as she prepares dinner with her girlfriend, Tasha Lamm, 30, in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Image by Wong Maye-E /AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Alicia Mullins, 22, lights a cigarette in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Mullins and her girlfriend, Tasha Lamm, 30 were homeless for most of last year, living in a car, before a local social service agency found them a home. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Alicia Mullins, 22, lights a cigarette in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Mullins and her girlfriend, Tasha Lamm, 30 were homeless for most of last year, living in a car, before a local social service agency found them a home. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Alicia Mullins, 22, smokes a cigarette while boiling corn for dinner in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Mullins and her girlfriend, Tasha Lamm, 30 were homeless for most of last year, living in a car, before a local social service agency found them a home. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Alicia Mullins, 22, smokes a cigarette while boiling corn for dinner in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Donovyn Bonice, 8, shows off a trick by leaping off the railing of his back porch in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Image by Wong Maye-E/AP Photo. United States, 2020.

Donovyn Bonice, 8, shows off a trick by leaping off the railing of his back porch in Bidwell, Ohio, on Monday, July 27, 2020. Image by Wong Maye-E /AP Photo. United States, 2020.

BIDWELL, Ohio (AP) — “I got stories,” Tasha Lamm said when we first met her, in a little town in Appalachian Ohio. And she did.

Her problems might seem overwhelming: poverty, unemployment, a stint of homelessness, an abusive mother, a boyfriend who died of a heroin overdose. The many other things that she hinted at, but never revealed.

But Lamm is far more than the sum of her hardships. She’s a petite, talkative woman who has faced so much in her 30 years. It’s as if she was almost unbreakable, with all that history feeding a palpable fighting spirit. She knew what was holding her back in life, and she knew what she needed to do to stay afloat and — hopefully, someday — escape from her tiny, troubled world.

The three of us on The Associated Press’ road trip across America met Lamm as we tried to make sense of a country upended by the coronavirus pandemic, unemployment, protests over racial justice and the brutal politics of the upcoming elections.

Her home is small, cozy, and neat, carefully decorated with things that mean something to her and her girlfriend, Alicia Mullins. Her two young boys are rambunctious and happy. On the summer day we visited, they were playing with a hose in the backyard. She doesn’t let them wander from the house. After what she’s been through, she doesn’t trust the world out there.

At dinnertime, she and Alicia make the meal together, often with donated food but also with care.

It’s too easy to stereotype people like Tasha. She’s jobless, lives in subsidized housing, and has a kitchen cabinet full of donated food.

But she’s also smart, strong and organized. She cares deeply for her kids and her girlfriend. She’s taken the little she has and made a life out of it, even if she’s desperate to find a way out of here. She dreams of going to New York City.

In the end, it wasn’t the struggles of the little family that stood out most in that little house. It was love.