Just to preface, this was recently written for my English class, and I call him Joseph Robert as a way of sneaking around the fact that I wrote my paper about my husband. Living on the edge.
Vegas
Joseph Robert is a native Las
Vegan. For him, Vegas means home,
family, and heritage. “Everyone always thinks it’s so different,” he says, “but
it’s not that different.” This might sound surprising coming from a devout
member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but he unwaveringly
loves his hometown. Before I met Joseph, my only interaction with the city had
been in my youth on a road trip with my mother. All I can remember is her
rushing me through a smoky casino to an all you can eat buffet; her horror at
letting her child walk through such a place overshadows that memory. And yet,
Joseph takes pride in where he comes from. He nodded his head while saying,
“They call it Sin City for a reason, but… I think there is beauty
to Vegas. Vegas has a special place in the hearts of many Las Vegans.”
Joseph’s statement proves true. In
an article titled “Home Means Las Vegas,” which appeared in Las Vegas Weekly,
April Corbin interviews Garre Mathis, a Las Vegas native who grew up in the
city in the 1950’s. The publication reads, “‘It’s a good place to live,’
[Mathis] says. He never quite understood why all of his kids itched to get out
of Las Vegas once they became adults. ‘They all did manage to leave for a
while, but they all came back.’” The article goes on to say, “Mathis and his
wife, Jan, a reading strategist and schoolteacher, have three kids, all born in
Las Vegas. Those kids are all grown up now with litters of their own, also born
in the city. The family is proud of its multiple generations, and Mathis says
many of their experiences are the same. They still camp, fish, four-wheel and
hunt—just in different places. The outskirts of town are far different now than
when Mathis was a younger man.”
Much like Mathis, Joseph is proud of his
Las Vegas heritage. As a member of the LDS church he grows excited when he can
share that Las Vegas was actually founded by pioneers of the LDS church. “A
portion of the original Mormon fort still stands in downtown Las Vegas as a
historic site… the settlement of Las Vegas made it easier to settle much more
of the west.” Joseph’s love and knowledge of historic Las Vegas has been
cultivated as he has grown older. Much of this love comes from the love he has
for his family. To Joseph Las Vegas means family and like Mathis, his family has
been in Vegas for generations: "1947 was when my Grandpa came, and my
Grandma came shortly thereafter. Most of the family on that side has lived here.
Two of my Grandparent’s sons have moved away, but most everyone else stayed here
and the ones that moved away frequently visit. I see my family, my cousins,
aunts, uncles, parents, and siblings, and I want them to do well, so I want the
city to be successful also.” The love he has for his family shines through his
words, and he smiles as he talks about them through almost every question of
the interview.
Although Las Vegas is Joseph’s home and
it does remind him of his family, he readily admits that the darker side of the
city has had an impact on him as well. Growing up in the town has brought him
face to face with drug using strippers, pornographic fliers littering the
streets, and a dying hobo. “I used to clean a Law Office downtown on Saturday
mornings,” he says while ruffling his hair and looking down at his shoes. “One morning
there was a homeless man who was dying. I called the ambulance, but he was
already dead, probably from a drug overdose. I didn’t get a great look at him,
I just knew he was in trouble. When I had found out that he had died it was
super shocking and almost depressing. It was such a gross way to die, in the
grossest part of town in the back of a law firm by the trash.” He added, “There
are parts of town that are dirty, greasy, sleazy, or dangerous. And it’s not
that fun to be in those places. You just don’t go there.” The dangerous parts
of the town have not deterred him however. If anything these experiences have
strengthened his resolve on the importance of following God’s commandments and
living a clean life. He states that these are the things which will bring
happiness.
“Today there really are two worlds to
Las Vegas,” Joseph says, “There are the tourist locations, and then there are
the residential communities, parks, and homes.” For Joseph, his love of his
community is a large part of who he is. He dreams of making the town better and
better for its residents but more specifically for his family. He loves the
heat of the desert and has fond memories of swimming with his cousins all
summer long. Las Vegas is in his blood and it always will be.
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