Sarah overcomes the Odds

Sarah Carroll, 49, enjoys her job in the pack line at a factory in Union, Mo. The work suits her temperament, always in motion, unless she’s resting on the couch after work. But factories in the US have been struggling for a long time, and like most, hers is struggling even more under the new tariffs.

By her own admission, she’s had a “tough life”, with an abusive husband, addiction, alcoholism and a series of strokes. After her husband passed away in 2022, she started dating Mike, “a good man,” who she has known since she was a teen. Last year they bought a house, and she lives with Mike, his son Ethan, daughter Kayle, Kayle’s boyfriend Noah, and Kayle’s daughter Atlas, to whom Sarah is Grandma. Sarah’s own daughter, who is her best friend, and grandchildren, live not too far away.

Mike, who works construction with Noah and Ethan, is connected within the Union community in a way that is new and wonderful to Sarah. While they feel the sting of the recent rise in cost of living, for example now they only drink coffee on Saturday and Sunday now, but they have a good life.

Sarah never thoughts she’d live this long and is grateful. With Mike, her expanded family, beloved pets, and job she feels she’s finally free.