Tracey Piper of Bastrop puts needs of others before herself | Season for Caring
In a home just outside of downtown Bastrop, a 4-year-old boy giggles and pedals his Spider-Man bicycle — still with the training wheels — around the living room.
That's Zaire. He's like many kids — he loves Spider-Man, hot Cheetos and cheese pizza, and red Gatorade is his favorite drink. But when Zaire was born, he was taken by Child Protective Services. In the past year, he has been diagnosed with autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
He was adopted by his great aunt, and the only mother he has ever known, Tracey Piper, a 50-year-old single mother and Bastrop native.
Piper should be entering her golden years relaxing and being a grandmother. But she's not that kind of person. She has always been a caregiver, and, during the past few years, she and her family have faced multiple medical conditions.
In addition to caring for Zaire, Tracey Piper lives with her 26-year-old son, Royce Raivon, who works as a dishwasher and helps out as he can. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and it can be hard for him to hold down a job.
Piper's daughter, Jamisha Cook, who is married and has three kids, used to help Piper, but Cook was diagnosed with lupus in the past year and has been unable to work.
Piper is also no stranger to medical issues. In 2014, she was diagnosed with diabetes, and she must take insulin daily. Then in 2019, after complaining for months about severe headaches to her doctor, who told her it was likely a blood pressure issue, she fainted at work.
She was taken to an emergency room, where doctors found a tumor in her head the size of a lemon. They performed emergency surgery. Piper spent the next two years recovering and was unable to drive. She was forced to quit her job of 20 years as an activity director for a retirement center in Austin.
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This surgery was in August 2019. Zaire was born just a month later, but that didn't stop Piper from doing everything she could to help him.
"We call it therapy for each other," Piper said. "I needed him. Because I was just sitting there depressed. ... Then he came, and it made me got to get up to do something for him."
The past year hasn't been easy, though. While Piper was able to return to work, albeit to a job with less pay at $15 an hour, her daughter's diagnosis has been tough. Piper is the one who drives her to doctors' appointments. Cook is regularly sick, and Piper helps watch Cook's children.
Piper has always been someone to take care of others, even if she doesn't always have the monetary means to do so.
"I'm a caring person," Piper said. "Even through my trials and tribulations, I still would help."
The Piper family's wishes:
Assistance with car payments; rental assistance; stove; bunk bed for Zaire; dresser for Zaire; therapy items/toys for Zaire; wall decorations; living room curtains; window blinds; pots and pans; car seat for Zaire; a spa day for Tracey; and gift cards to H-E-B, Target and Walmart.
Their wish list is available on Amazon and Target.
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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Season for Caring: Tracey Piper puts needs of others before herself
