In the Easy Chair with Jessica Mowry
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NAME: Jessica Mowry.
AGE: 50.
OCCUPATION: Executive director, The WARM Center, Inc. and a licensed independent clinical social worker.
RESIDENCE: Smithfield.
BORN, RAISED & GREW UP IN: A suburb of Portland, Oregon.
RIGHT NOW I’M IN THE MIDDLE OF: Rallying the resources necessary to end homelessness in Washington County and selling my home to be closer to The WARM Center.
MY PROUDEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Keeping my stunning daughter alive for 17 years.
TOP ON MY BUCKET LIST: I’d like to spend more time with my parents and my sister, and watch my daughter continue growing up and navigating life.
I ALWAYS CARRY: A re-useable water bottle and my phone.
WHAT I WANTED TO BE WHEN I GREW UP: A psychologist or marketing exec ... go figure.
MY HEROES ARE: The people we see at The WARM Center who have sometimes lost everything and continue to put one foot in front of the other, working toward better days.
FAVORITE AUTHORS: Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Oliver Sachs.
BOOKS ON MY NIGHT STAND: Thank you for phrasing the question this way, as opposed to “what are you reading?” "Ask Not," by Maureen Callahan.
SONGS I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO MOSTLY THESE DAYS: "All of My Days," by Alex Murdoch.
MUSICIANS/RECORDING ARTISTS I FOLLOW: I love Gregory Alan Isakov, Nathaniel Rateliff, The Bahamas.
FAVORITE THREE MOVIES OF ALL TIME: "Sound of Music," "Little Miss Sunshine," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."
LAST TV SHOW I BINGED: "Couples Therapy" (I’m a therapist by training)
I ALWAYS LISTEN TO: Morning Edition and my daughter.
TOP COMFORT FOOD: Pizza, eggplant Parm, nachos-anything warm, spicy and cheesy.
SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES I MOSTLY USE: Facebook, Instagram.
TRAITS I MOST ADMIRE: Assertiveness, self-awareness, authenticity, humility.
PET PEEVES: bad parking, like when someone takes up two spots.
FAVORITE QUOTATION: “Out beyond ideas of right-doing and wrongdoing there is a field, I’ll meet you there.”
MY FAVORITE THING ABOUT OUR LITTLE CORNER OF THE WORLD: The eggplant Parm, the beaches, the uniqueness of each village.
CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT: Exercise, coffee, hot water.
LITTLE KNOWN FACT ABOUT ME: As a child I was a patient at the remarkable Shriner’s Hospital. Without the care I received from the talented and warm doctors and nurses, I may not be walking today.
BEST ADVICE I EVER RECEIVED: “This too shall pass.”
ADVICE I BEST LIKE TO GIVE: I try not to give too much advice but I often encourage people to take deep belly breaths.
IF I RULED THE WORLD I WOULD: Carefully give away my power.
IF I WON THE LOTTERY, THE FIRST THING I WOULD DO IS: It depends on how much the lottery was — homes for all would be a priority, including all the dogs.
I DRIVE A: Grey Toyota Prius-maybe 2019?
I WISH I DROVE A: Convertible VW bug.
ALWAYS IN MY FRIDGE: Seltzer water.
THE GUESTS AT THE DINNER PARTY OF MY DREAMS WOULD INCLUDE: My grandma Helene and my grandpa George.
— Interview arranged and edited by Nancy Burns-Fusaro
