The Class of 2009: Handling a balancing act with grace

LAKEWOOD — The call came while Daisha Weekley was sitting in a literature class, trying to analyze a poem.

Her dad had been in heart surgery.

As her phone vibrated and her mom’s number flashed across the screen, Daisha feared the worst.

She thought about running out of class to answer the phone, but she knew it wouldn’t change anything. So she waited 10 minutes until class was over, called her mom and exhaled.

Her dad was fine. The surgery went well.

Throughout Daisha’s senior year at Lakewood High School*, she balanced Everett Community College courses and a 20-hour a week job at Target, with the stress of her dad’s failing heart.

Daisha’s dad, Dale Weekley, had to retire from his job as a semi-truck driver a year ago after a virus caused his heart to enlarge and left him dependent on a defibrillator. To make ends meet, Daisha’s mom, Darcy Weekley, picked up more hours at Costco, leaving Daisha with more responsibility at home. She helped her dad and shuttled around her siblings, Chelsy, 15, and Miles, 5. While their parents were at doctors appointments, Daisha was in charge.

“I know he’s sick, but I’m so glad he’s here and will be able to see me get married and have kids,” Daisha said. “That’s really important to me.”

Daisha, 17, will be the first of her cousins to graduate from high school. Four older cousins dropped out. She is also the first person in her immediate family to go to college.

“My parents say, ‘You need to go to college to get a better education,’ ” Daisha said. “They struggled all their lives and they don’t want me to go through that.”

Watching her dad deal with doctors helped Daisha realize she wants to work in health care — probably as a physical therapist. To afford tuition at Everett Community College in the fall, she plans to spend her summer at Target, working.

Once she earns her associate degree, she plans to go to the University of Washington and make her parents proud — yet again.

More of the Class of 2009:

*Correction, June 10, 2009: This article originally named an incorrect high school for Daisha Weekley.