HER FIGHT IS MY FIGHT.

Meet Antoine Thomas, our GM. Here’s his story. 

Mom, Your Fight is My Fight.

I was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was the oldest child. By the age of 6, my mother had taught me several things that your average 6-year-old would never have imagined learning. I learned to cook, clean the house, and to wash and press my clothes. As I got a little older, I even dropped my brothers off at daycare as I went to school and picked them up afterward.

My mother worked two jobs: as a nurse at a hospital and also at a clinic. She was all about helping and taking care of people. This was a rare attribute and not something I would see anywhere else in my years of growing up in the projects of New Orleans. But I learned this and a lot more from my mother, and above all, she taught me to be the best I can be, and to strive to be even better than that.

My brothers and I did not have a father in our lives, so I became a father figure to my brothers and taught them everything I knew. I made sure their homework was done, their chores were done around the house, and their clothes were ready for school the next day. Mom picked up a 3rd job to put us all through private school because she wanted more for us than what was going on in our neighborhood. She wanted better for us. There was no room for excuses, or “I cannot” in our vocabulary. She would not allow me to play sports unless my GPA was above 3.0 and I was on the Honor Roll. And her persistence paid off!

But then, when I was in High School, something changed. Mom was getting sick here and there, but tried to keep this from us and kept working and paying for us to continue our private school education. Then, in the blink of an eye, she was in the hospital and I was confused. Why was my mother who was so good to everyone and such a strong woman lying in the hospital? Why had she gotten skinnier and lost her hair? It was then that I found out she was diagnosed with breast cancer. As a teenage boy, I had no idea what that meant for my mom.

After three weeks in the hospital, they allowed her to come home, so I thought all was well. I went out with my friends to a football game. As I returned home, I saw an ambulance and police vehicles near our place, and I was thinking it had nothing to do with my family. But it did. As I approached, I realized they were at my home. My mother had passed away.

“I was truly devastated. I didn’t understand.”

ONE ACT OF SERVICE.

We are a family-owned and operated dealership within the Inverness Community that positively affects people’s lives in such a way that they want to experience the Plaza Promise, and they tell their friends and families about us as well. If you choose to purchase a vehicle at Plaza CDJR, for the month of October, we will be making a donation on your behalf.

We’re here to serve; not sell.