What is something that you’ve always wanted to do?

“I love my job. I love what I do. I make candles. I have a candle business and that’s really helped me meet people. It’s always been to cultivate healing with other people. Not necessarily as a case manager where you’re helping someone else heal themselves; more like healing together, like community basis. With candles, it has really helped me do that. I get to meet people and talk to them about their own healing. We share stories, we connect and heal together. I do candle classes where I bring the community together, and people who don’t know each other sit at a table for two hours and they end up talking and connecting. Watching people form that bond brings me peace.” – Larry Ross of Bessemer

Larry Ross moved to Alabama from California. (Tamika Moore / People of Alabama)

Ross hand pours intention candles and is the owner of Burnable Bouquets. Ross moved from California to Alabama a few years ago for one special reason.

“Love brought me here. I met my partner almost eight years ago. We met in the program, 12 Steps. Neither of us drink. We met through a mutual friend in the program. We fell in love. It just kind of happened. We talked on the phone for two weeks before we actually met. He told me he’s a traditional good guy from the South, so he wanted to take me to dinner. That scared me. I was like, ‘Absolutely not. I’ll meet you for coffee.’ We were at coffee for four hours, and then we moved in together 11 days later and it’s been almost eight years. He wanted to move back here to be close to his family. I was like, ‘Sure. Let’s move to Birmingham.’ It’s been four and a half years now. He is so patient, so unbelievably patient and loving.”

Love brought Larry Ross to Alabama. (Tamika Moore / People of Alabama)

Ross’ mother also moved a few weeks later.

“My mom is a four-time breast cancer survivor. We moved in December. We drove across the country, me and my partner, and then my mom was having her bilateral mastectomy. I flew back and stayed until the end of February taking care of her and then I moved here officially, and she moved three and a half weeks later. One of the reasons she wanted to be here is to be close to me. I was like, ‘I’m not gonna leave your side. I will be there no matter what.’ She is the most savage person I know, and I get my strength from her 1,000 percent. She’s my biggest supporter, my biggest cheerleader, other than my partner.”

Larry Ross’ mother provides inspiration and strength. (Tamika Moore / People of Alabama)

Ross loves Alabama’s natural beauty and greenery. They also love the community they have found here.

“I came out as transgender two and a half years ago. I feel like COVID kind of made all of it happen where I was trapped in my house and I was just living a life that didn’t align. I had a complete breakdown and came to my partner and was like, ‘Listen, I’m living a lie. I can’t do this anymore.’ I’m learning things every day about myself and the community is really cool. I have found the LGBTQ community here is actually much bigger than I thought. It has been really liberating and freeing and cool to meet my kind of community.”

Larry Ross has found a larger-than-expected LGBTQ community in Birmingham. (Tamika Moore / People of Alabama)

These are the faces and stories of people from all walks of life who call Alabama home. People of Alabama is a Red Clay Media and Alabama News Center partnership.