Jackie Phillips Carter

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPH:

I was born in Minot, North Dakota. My father was in the Air Force. We moved to Middletown, which is my father's hometown. This is a picture of my cheerleading squad for the wrestling team. And I was a sophomore in high school. And I thought of a pitcher that would pretty much embody my midi pride because I graduated from Middletown high school, so I am a MIDI. But I've always cheered for the home team, which is Middletown.  So I really love Middletown. And I feel very connected to that. So when they said a picture that would imply it body, Middletown, or Middie pride, it would be me cheering for the team. we're in the gym. And I think this is like the parallel bars are the Yeah. And that's why we took that setting in the picture.  During that time, it was a lot of fun. I knew nothing about wrestling, right? Hold them down, hold them down, and I'm down. Nothing about wrestling. And then fast forward. My husband wrestled in high school. So he's from the Dayton area. I think it was setting me up for sometimes you're not cheering for the most popular team, right? That's where I ended up. And that I stayed on it. I didn't get discouraged because I wasn't on the basketball team or the football team.  I think it just reinforced that you're placed in a position where you're supposed to be and so you just embrace that, that place, that space. Middletown is a different town. And it has its ills, just like any other community, or neighborhood, or city. However, it has a lot of love, guts, a lot of heart, and a lot of community in it.  but it is a nice feeling to know people, even if you don't know their name. One thing that is consistent and is the heart is the love and the heart of the people. And so that's why I became as I went through, I worked in dentistry first and then I became a nurse and now I'm at the health department. Right and I'm the health commissioner, which deals with populations that are in lower social, economic areas where there are different disparities, health disparities where, whether it's the very old or the very young, whether it's race related, whatever. And I like that too, because Middletown always seems like they come together. Even with all of those differences, we come together, it's always, always, always for as long as I can remember, been a very diverse city. And it is more integrated, and together now than it's ever been before.