20051223 - The Brown-McQuigg family says grace as they sit down to
dinner at the Metropolitan Ministries shelter on the night of Joe and
Michele's wedding. The couple has been together since they met in Ybor
City on Aug. 8, 1998. He called her the next day, and the day after
that. Within four months Ymani, now 6, was on the way. They now have a
baby son together as well, Jomele. But things haven't always been
smooth. In January, Michele was laid off from her job, and they
couldn't afford the rent on their house. They lived in a hotel for
awhile, but Joe's day labor jobs could barely cover the nightly rate.
They came to the shelter as a family in July, and the couple says
they've gone from broken to mending. "We've been through a lot of
bad," Joe said. "Now, it's getting good." (Brian Cassella / St.
Petersburg Times)
