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Lorenzo Thomas Wallace Just Keep Going Forward


T o most people, having to endure a lifetime


of struggles just to survive would seem like a terrible injustice. Never knowing if there will be enough money to make it to the next month would be emotionally exhausting. To most, it would be easy to give up. Lorenzo Thomas Wallace is not most people. Never complaining, never giving up, Lorenzo learned from a very young age to “just keep going forward.”


He was born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and grew up in a humble, two-bedroom house with his parents and two brothers. Lorenzo’s mother was a housewife and his father was a logger in the vast woodlands that comprise much of Spotsylvania County. They worked hard to provide for their three growing boys, but times were tough. With no running water, the family pumped water from a well and took baths in an outside tub with water warmed by the sun.


School was a battle for Lorenzo. After struggling to master the basics, he quit in the ninth grade and set out on his own to begin what would become a constant struggle to find work.


There was one bright spot among Lorenzo’s daily struggles. In the early 90s, he fell in love with a girl named Kathy. Originally from Pittsburgh, Kathy and her daughter moved to Virginia after her first husband died. She and her friends would go out on Friday nights. It was then that Kathy and Lorenzo first met.


Lorenzo liked to dance. His two-step won Kathy’s heart and they’ve been enduring life’s ups and downs together ever since. “Everyone always teases us, they don’t know how a country boy and a city girl ever got together,” Kathy said.


Living paycheck to paycheck was not unusual for Lorenzo and Kathy, but in 2009 they hit rock bottom when he lost his job and they lost their home. After searching for jobs for a year and a half, Lorenzo found Express Employment Professionals.


Express was instrumental in finding Lorenzo work. Although none of the jobs have had much longevity, they have paid well. Express has kept him consistently employed with various companies in the Richmond area. He also finds side jobs in the neighborhood cutting grass, hauling brush, and scrapping metal.


“I do what I can to survive,” Lorenzo said.


“He takes care of our family,” Kathy said. “He’s one of a kind.”


Perseverance, generosity, humility, and love of family define him. By every measure of a man, Lorenzo sets the standard high.


This positive attitude has carried him through a trying life. “The only thing I’m gonna do is just keep going forward,” Lorenzo said.


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