I arrived just in time to get an early morning tour Ste. Genevieve Industries, a non-profit where my Aunt Annette works along with approximately 70 other adults with special needs. Employees with varying degrees of disability are assigned fundamental tasks to perform, tailored according to their strengths, such as operating machines that bag ice, constructing wooden shipping pallets, or assembling electronic components, receiving a paycheck for their labor just like in a regular workplace. It was a life-affirming experience, seeing the fulfilled faces of Annette and her coworkers, their obvious pride in knowing that they are asset to their community, instead of a liability.

Otherwise, we spent the days eating chicken noodle soup and ham sandwiches, gabbing about this and that, catching up and chillaxing, Missouri-style. The weather was clear and breezy, a welcome change from the previous week. The morning that I left, we grabbed breakfast at the Kozy Kitchen, a small café in the little town my grandma calls home, and I asked the waitress to snap a few pictures.