Mississippi
Meet Mississippi Joe, 72-year-old Peninsula man using his garden to cultivate close-knit community
He goes by the identify Mississippi Joe. And that is the place you discover him every single day, tending to a vegetable backyard. Nearly everybody in East Palo Alto is aware of him due to his kindness.
“Giving is one thing particular whenever you give,” he mentioned. “It makes you’re feeling good when you possibly can hand out one thing to another person.”
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For 48 years, when the cucumbers and squash and corn and onions and tomatoes and different produce are prepared for harvest, Mississippi Joe will share them together with his neighbors and mates. It is one thing that stayed with him, rising up within the South.
“We at all times shared the meals with one another ‘trigger a few of them did not have meals generally, after which what we had we would share it,” he mentioned.
Mississippi has a big fan membership. Just a few of them gathered to share what he means to them.
“He is at all times had that angle of simply giving, free spirit, simply continuously giving,” mentioned subsequent door neighbor Carl Arrington, who has identified Mississippi for over 40 years. “The sincerity that he has, the love that he has for the group, we have all been blessed.”
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One other neighbor, Jedd Bloom, added, “Mississippi Joe’s hospitality is just not restricted to his produce. He is introduced over gumbo, every kind of cooking he is performed. Every time he is making it, he is sharing it.”
He has touched the lives of three generations.
“I keep in mind my youngsters have been actually little,” mentioned Tracey Ramirez. “He’d come convey my mom contemporary greens. And he mentioned, do you wish to know the place these come from? And he introduced my youngsters over right here. I used to be enamored.”
Mississippi even helps neighbors with their yard work. At age 72, he exhibits no indicators of slowing down. However the backyard does take work.
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“It is getting somewhat arduous to go on the market and try this. Perhaps a pair extra years,” he mentioned.
His household is grown up. He has one grandson, and there is a granddaughter on the best way. This former faculty custodian is proving acts of kindness can convey a group collectively.
“I really like East Palo Alto. It is a great place to dwell,” he mentioned.
That is true, say others, due to Mississippi Joe.
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