One Name, Two Fates

As I sat in the San Francisco Airport, I mused, "I want a book."  Dr. Smiles, who was all smiles, lovingly replied, "I didn't know you could read.  I guess after ten years, you do learn something new." I responded with a toothy grin.  Feeling the effects of the marathon, I gingerly raised myself from the hard plastic airport chair and wobbled to the bookstore.  Inside, I shuffled through the "bestsellers", "classics", and "pocket books" in search of an interesting read for the return trip to Atlanta.

The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore caught my attention.  It tells a true life story of two African-American boys who share the name Wes Moore.  They coincidentally grew up blocks apart in single-parent homes in Baltimore, Maryland.  Although they are superficially similar, their difference is major - one Wes Moore escapes the trappings of the inner city and becomes a Rhodes Scholar and White House Fellow while the other Wes Moore becomes a convicted felon sentenced to life in prison without parole.  Is it a tale of mistaken identity? Hardly, but it is a thought provoking journey through the lives of the two boys who grow up to be men.  Both are initially enamored with the promise of street life, but one Wes Moore diverges while the other is engulfed.  As you read about their respective lives, you start to wonder how their lives turned out so different.  What clicked for one Wes? At what point did Wes' second chance become his last?

I encourage you to read this book because "the chilling truth is that Wes's story could have been [ours]; the tragedy is that [our] story could have been his."