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Soul Cotton, 53, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer three months ago. He uses a walker to tread the gravel and dirt driveways of the makeshift trailer park where he’s lived the past six years.
Amid a ramshackle assemblage of recreational vehicles, trailer homes, auto parts and junk, Adrian Cholula Gonzalez, his wife, Yasmin Lara, and their autistic son also have put down roots here.
Elizabeth Peterson, 64, has lived here with her daughter for 12 years. Peterson, who has a medical condition that causes swelling in her left leg and limits her mobility, cares for her daughter, who suffered a traumatic brain injury as a child.
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Nobody likes mobile home parks until they shut down – and then they suddenly love them. It’s like some country western song in which the spouse hated their significant other and then, once they leave, wants them back.