Whatever Happened To...
... a family on the edge
BY KATHLEEN HOM Fifteen years ago, Daniel and Sara Sullivan were struggling to keep their family fi nancially afl oat. As told in an April 1995 Magazine cover story by Walt Harrington, the couple, then in their 20s, were teetering between poverty and the middle class, trying to raise two toddler sons in a Gaithersburg apartment on an income of about $1,240 a month. Both came from middle-class
families, but Sara and Daniel didn’t get through college or trade school and had children early. Though they counted their pennies and drew distinctions between their wants and needs, they had to rely on their parents to help pay bills. Shortly after the story was published, the couple managed to buy a house in Damascus but couldn’t afford it on one salary and lost it, Daniel Sullivan said. They briefl y rented an apartment but eventually moved in with his parents in 2002 — a diffi cult decision, he said. “Everybody spends their fi rst 18 to 23 years preparing to leave their parents,” Daniel said. “Nobody ever thinks of moving back.” Soon afterward, Sara fi led for
divorce. Daniel, now 43, was awarded custody of their two sons, Patrick, 19, a student at Montgomery College, and Connor, 16. It was a relatively friendly
divorce, Daniel said. Sara moved to South Carolina in January. He left his job at Radio Shack in 1996
and for years jumped from job to job — installing breathalyzers in cars, selling insurance, working with HVAC supplies, selling automotive parts and working at a music retailer. Since 2005, Daniel has worked for a research company in technical support. He said he’s thankful to have a job during the recession. Today, his primary concern is
maintaining stability for his sons, he said. He still lives with his parents in
BARELY MAKING IT
39.8 million // T e number of people living in poverty, according to the Census Bureau in 2008
(Continued from Page 5)
really bad tendinitis in both hands. [But] I don’t want to be that person that owns a bakery and doesn’t bake. It’s very important to me to be in the kitchen and be producing with my staff. If I’m going to be just the business end of things, just a face, I feel like I’m cheating everybody. If someone says, “Oh, did you bake this?” I want to be able to say: “Yeah, I baked it! And, yeah, I have help.” I’m in there till 2 or
ANSWER The White House
3 in the morning, baking with my staff. In the last year, I have sold more
pie than I ever thought I’d make here. Yesterday I had fi ve pies on the counter; there was one slice by the end of the day. One huge favorite when it’s in season is the strawberry rhubarb, which I always fi nd amazing because most people haven’t really ever eaten rhubarb. But I think we’re very nostalgic; rhubarb sounds really old-fashioned, and you see “strawberry rhubarb” and it’s like, “Wow, I gotta try that.” I think pie is an old- fashioned thing. Even when you watch
6 THE WASHINGTON POST MAGAZINE | AUGUST 1, 2010
old movies, they go in to eat at the diner, and there’s always a slice of pie. Before this, I used to have a graphic
design company. Nine years ago, we were driving home from the beach, and I was saying, “I’m bored.” You could see the world of paper starting to decline, and I’m going, “What else am I good at? What else can I do?” And then I thought, “Well, I bake.” And we just did it. Baking, it’s a very hard life, and we don’t make a lot of money doing it, so you have to have a passion for it. Or else you won’t survive.
Left: The 1995 Magazine cover. Above, from left: Connor, Patrick and Daniel Sullivan in 2009.
Olney and plans to stay there until Connor graduates from high school. But he does have a dream. In 2004, Daniel rediscovered a passion for martial arts when he and Patrick took a class in Gaithersburg. Daniel now teaches various forms of martial arts part time, renting a studio in Sandy Spring and instructing students in the garage. He said that by teaching martial
arts he enjoys himself while earning a good income. He said he wants to teach full time and earn enough money to have a place of his own in the next three to fi ve years. While he appreciates the sacrifi ces his parents have made, he said, he looks forward to living on his own. “I want to resume my adult life with my kids.”
WASHINGTON POST MAGAZINE COVER FROM APRIL 23, 1995, ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID BARRY; GRADUATION PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE SULLIVAN FAMILY
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