I left Jacksonville just before 7AM for my four-hour drive
to meet up with resident, Dan, who was spending his summer vacation in Lake
Placid, FL with his sister and brother-in-law. In spite of heavy traffic getting to the interstate and taking the long
route around Orlando to avoid the congestion, I arrived at my destination right
on time at 11:30AM. Dan’s sister had
previously thought she would keep the purpose of my visit a surprise, but she
spilled the beans and Dan rushed out to greet me with his usual rib-crushing
bear hug. He knew we were on the way to
meet up with Louis, a.k.a. “Butch.” Dan
had not seen his friend of over 22 years in more than a year since Butch moved
away from Shepherds to his new independent life in Sebring, FL. (see “Catalyst for Independence”).
After hearing about Dan’s latest fishing trip wherein he
lost the “big” ones, we buckled the seat belts and headed back north some 20
miles to meet Butch at his home. During
the drive, Dan shared his recent life events with me. He excitedly told me about being picked as
captain of his bowling team. It seems he
is quite the bowler. Several times he
has bowled 200+ games according to his brother-in-law. He ardently described his hook deliveries and
how he had to position his feet and release the ball. He has two bowling balls of his own of which
he is very proud. He also told me of a
recent outing to the lanes where he met “Señor Michael” a six-foot
four-inch, Spanish-speaking bowler who was with a friend who translated for
him. Dan and Señor Michael became friends
quickly, and Dan enjoyed speaking through a translator. Dan also shared about his personal
experiences of trying to help a severely ill roommate at Shepherds. He was asked to call 911 and stay on the line
with the operator until help arrived.
Sadly, his friend David passed away, but Dan was so happy that he could
attend his funeral. Dan is quite the
conversationalist and continually talks, jumping from one story to
another. He would punctuate his story telling
by using the exclamation“all ex-sudden” instead of “suddenly”. He must have peppered his conversations with
that phrase during the course of the day twenty to twenty-five times. Before the last few miles to Butch’s home, we
stopped to purchase our picnic food.
Yes, weather permitting, we were planning an outside picnic with all
southern food. Dan picked out a box of
fried chicken, southern style potato salad, baked beans, a peach cobbler pie,
and two bottles of soda. I added a bag
of ice, and we strapped in the car again to make our way to Maranatha Village
where Butch resides in his mobile home.
As we drove into Maranatha Village, Dan began sizing
everything up. Two lakes -he wondered if
Butch fished. I told him Butch said
there were gators in them. “All
ex-sudden” he was alert, scanning the banks and looking with interest at the
homes we passed until we pulled into Butch’s drive. We made our way to the door, knocked, and
when Butch opened the door, Dan exclaimed, “Remember me?”
Butch let us in, and “all ex-sudden” Dan saw Butch’s sister,
whom he knew, and warmly greeted her too.
After she left, they noticed it was getting awfully hot and clouds were
forming, so we had our picnic inside.
Dan talked continually, filling Butch in on all the news about their
mutual friends at Shepherds. It was quite a reunion, although truly a
mini-reunion since there were just the two of them. After lunch, before our next adventure of the
afternoon, Butch took Dan on a tour of Marantha Village on his golf cart in
hopes of spotting gators.
“Nope!” Dan
said emphatically on their return. “No alligators, but I think I can teach
Butch something about fishing.”
Butch
showed us his new propane grill,
his new basketball hoop and stand,
and told
Dan about his landscaping work around his home.
Butch also works as general yardman and landscaper for the Manor
Assisted Living Facility. It was his
earnings of $66.48 every two weeks that paid for grill, basketball stand, a new
flat screen tv, and soon-to-be-delivered - a new stackable washer /dryer
combination being installed in the bathroom.
That’s pretty common in most small mobile homes. Butch really does a good job with independent
living. Not only does he work for the
Village, but he is member of Maranatha Baptist Church where he now serves as an
usher with his own name tag!
We buckled up once again and went to a local mall where they
have an arcade called “Game Time.” I had
searched for a miniature golf (Putt- Putt) course, but the only one in Sebring
was closed for the summer and the next closest was 60 miles away in
Lakeland. The guys enjoyed over an hour
playing ski ball, basketball toss, milk can toss, and Ninja sword fighting.
When their tokens ran out, we left the arcade
to only find out it was really getting ready to pour. Dan wanted Butch to see where he lived on
summer vacation so we drove in the driving rain back to Lake Placid and arrived
at Dan’s sister’s house just as the rain was slacking. It was still raining so Dan could not give
Butch a tour of the property to see his brother-in-law’s fishing boat, the
pool, and the grill “that is a lot bigger than yours!” We sat and talked with Dan’s brother-in-law
while Dan did most of the talking, telling Ron about their day and everything
that Butch was doing. Ron told me that
Dan is high functioning enough to live independently, but he has problems
remembering to take very important meds, and they have not wanted to chance it
to this point in his life. Dan is very
happy and was looking forward to going back to Shepherds to resume his
activities, his sports, his work, time with his friends, and his “Harbor” group
home roomies. I received another
crushing hug, and Butch and I departed for the return trip to his home.
I dropped Butch off with the promise I would be back before
the end of the year so we could grill out.
He was excited, not because of what I said or that I was leaving, but
rather because he could hardly wait for the next day when he would go to
Tropicana Park in St. Petersburg with a bus load from Maranatha Village to see
the Tampa Bay Rays play.
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