Epilogue
Wes life was pretty much the same. Each day he’d wake up at 5 am and go to sleep at 10pm. He’d work as a carpenter for most part of the day and then have two hours of free time in which he would play basketball or just talk with friends. Wes was now a devoted Muslim; he’d initially started attending mosque services because it was the only time he had to see his brother Tony. But as the days went by Wes started paying more attention and eventually decided he wanted to learn more. His family still visits him, but the stays are hard on him. The joy he feels when seeing them quickly disappears once he’s whisked away. The meetings are normally stationed with Wes listening while his family tells him of the outside world. In 2008 Wes and many of the other inmates closely followed the presidential campaign. They celebrated once Barack Obama won but the feeling of happiness dissolved once they noticed, no matter who was in charged their fates where sealed. During the writing of the book Wes became a grandfather and is now serving his tenth year in prison making him thirty-three years old.
Joy Moore retired from her job with a foundation for disadvantaged children and is now making her own business helping foundations. Nikki runs her own planning business in Virginia and Shani graduated from Princeton University in 2001.
Despite many difficulties like his parents deaths, Justin finished high school and received a scholarship for college. He spends his time working with educational disparities in his country.
Wes’ grandfather died of a type of stomach cancer, while his grandmother still lives in Bronx taking care of her family. Mary works in medical technology, specializing in elder care. She’s also raising three of Wes’s kids, her niece, her nephew, and her youngest son. She lives in Aberdeen Maryland almost an hour away from Baltimore city.
Tony spent his life in prison when in march 2008 he died of kidney failure. He was thirty-eight years old. Woody spent many years going in and out of high school until he settled down and is now raising three children.
White boy dropped out of school and is now a waiter in Atlanta. Alicia is raising only one of Wes kids, she works security for the Transportation Security Administration.
Cheryl battled drug addiction and lost custody of both her children. In 2002 she fell down the stairs and ended up paralyzed. She died soon after at the age of twenty-four.
As for Wes he finished his graduate degree and returned to the military to help fight in the battle in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once he returned to the US he worked closely with Secretary Condoleezza Rice. He later married Dawn and gave a speech, just hours before President Barack Obama would take the stage. And, sometime in 2007 he began working on the book. For over two years Wes would spend his life interviewing people and talking to the other Wes Moore, comparing their lives. Through his life Wes can’t help but ask himself, what made the difference? When did the turning point occur in which his life changed for the best? As he continued to ponder the question he realized he didn’t know. It could’ve been a series of events or just the people around him, he just doesn’t know. As the book came to an end Wes realized its everyone’s job to help shape the boys and girls of the next generation. It is the adult’s responsibility to give them the tools in which the can go out in to the world and succeed.
Afterword
After this book came out, Wes was filled with questions and interviews. People all over the world wondered, what made the difference? He’d avoided the question not knowing how to answer it. Many people made their own assumptions while others just waited. Yet Wes noticed, as he read the assumptions, that they all had a thing in common, Information. The thing that made the difference for the two Wes was the tools they were both given at an early age. Their different decisions were a reflection of those tools and how they used them. While getting many responses from the book Wes noticed how many people found it in them to share their stories with him, Parents who felt overwhelmed raising their children and kids who had faced some of the same problems and used him as an inspiration. In his own way Wes had given these kids a tool in which they could use to shape their life.
Wes life was pretty much the same. Each day he’d wake up at 5 am and go to sleep at 10pm. He’d work as a carpenter for most part of the day and then have two hours of free time in which he would play basketball or just talk with friends. Wes was now a devoted Muslim; he’d initially started attending mosque services because it was the only time he had to see his brother Tony. But as the days went by Wes started paying more attention and eventually decided he wanted to learn more. His family still visits him, but the stays are hard on him. The joy he feels when seeing them quickly disappears once he’s whisked away. The meetings are normally stationed with Wes listening while his family tells him of the outside world. In 2008 Wes and many of the other inmates closely followed the presidential campaign. They celebrated once Barack Obama won but the feeling of happiness dissolved once they noticed, no matter who was in charged their fates where sealed. During the writing of the book Wes became a grandfather and is now serving his tenth year in prison making him thirty-three years old.
Joy Moore retired from her job with a foundation for disadvantaged children and is now making her own business helping foundations. Nikki runs her own planning business in Virginia and Shani graduated from Princeton University in 2001.
Despite many difficulties like his parents deaths, Justin finished high school and received a scholarship for college. He spends his time working with educational disparities in his country.
Wes’ grandfather died of a type of stomach cancer, while his grandmother still lives in Bronx taking care of her family. Mary works in medical technology, specializing in elder care. She’s also raising three of Wes’s kids, her niece, her nephew, and her youngest son. She lives in Aberdeen Maryland almost an hour away from Baltimore city.
Tony spent his life in prison when in march 2008 he died of kidney failure. He was thirty-eight years old. Woody spent many years going in and out of high school until he settled down and is now raising three children.
White boy dropped out of school and is now a waiter in Atlanta. Alicia is raising only one of Wes kids, she works security for the Transportation Security Administration.
Cheryl battled drug addiction and lost custody of both her children. In 2002 she fell down the stairs and ended up paralyzed. She died soon after at the age of twenty-four.
As for Wes he finished his graduate degree and returned to the military to help fight in the battle in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once he returned to the US he worked closely with Secretary Condoleezza Rice. He later married Dawn and gave a speech, just hours before President Barack Obama would take the stage. And, sometime in 2007 he began working on the book. For over two years Wes would spend his life interviewing people and talking to the other Wes Moore, comparing their lives. Through his life Wes can’t help but ask himself, what made the difference? When did the turning point occur in which his life changed for the best? As he continued to ponder the question he realized he didn’t know. It could’ve been a series of events or just the people around him, he just doesn’t know. As the book came to an end Wes realized its everyone’s job to help shape the boys and girls of the next generation. It is the adult’s responsibility to give them the tools in which the can go out in to the world and succeed.
Afterword
After this book came out, Wes was filled with questions and interviews. People all over the world wondered, what made the difference? He’d avoided the question not knowing how to answer it. Many people made their own assumptions while others just waited. Yet Wes noticed, as he read the assumptions, that they all had a thing in common, Information. The thing that made the difference for the two Wes was the tools they were both given at an early age. Their different decisions were a reflection of those tools and how they used them. While getting many responses from the book Wes noticed how many people found it in them to share their stories with him, Parents who felt overwhelmed raising their children and kids who had faced some of the same problems and used him as an inspiration. In his own way Wes had given these kids a tool in which they could use to shape their life.
- Written by Maria Napal