Word: phenoms
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...sumo, the term yokozuna means "grand champion," and few yokozunas were grander?inside and outside the ring?than Japan's Takanohana, who announced his retirement from sumo last week. From his start as a gangly 15-year-old phenom wrestling in his father's stable, Takanohana quickly grew to dominate sumo, winning his first championship at the record age of 19 and earning the coveted title of yokozuna at 22. When he wasn't shoving overmatched opponents around like a human bulldozer, Takanohana?together with his older brother, Wakanohana?charmed the nation with his good looks and pop-star persona...
...Phenom is even busier, not just tending the baby but also meeting with service providers, from the Catholic Social Services caseworker to the Parents Anonymous family-support rep. Phenom intently listens to all the advice yet admits that the unending parade of support workers can be wearying. "Sometimes all I need to do is be by myself, get some rest and take care of my baby," she says...
...spare moments, Phenom occasionally finds her thoughts slipping to the past. This time last year, De-Shawto was employed in housekeeping at a motel; she had her full-time pizza job. On her way to work, she would often stop for a cappuccino to go, a little indulgence that she sorely misses. "The ones at the Exxon station are the best," she says wistfully. She has not had one in months...
...than they had ever earned in their lives. "Life was good. We could get anything we wanted." That's when they bought their first Christmas tree, an artificial one that would be fresh each year. Three weeks ago, the Cochran Christmas was more like Ash Wednesday. De-Shawto and Phenom had no cash for the kids' presents. (The shelter helped out there: people donated gifts from the residents' wish lists.) But they did succumb to the kids' begging and pulled the six-foot faux evergreen tree out of storage: it's still lighted up in the living room because there...
...Phenom is still waiting for her New Year's wish to come true: to have a real place of their own, paid for by them, with earnings from the full-time job De-Shawto has yet to find. "I was really hoping we wouldn't be spending the holidays here," Phenom says, and sighs. "I didn't want to be here that long." The bright lights in the kids' eyes can't bring a sparkle to Mom's. She knows that a family doesn't have to be houseless to be homeless...