OT was Re: [at-l] Respect for the "Queen of England"

[DaRedhead@aol.com (DaRedhead@aol.com)]

This strikes a rather strong note with me.  This isn't Trail related at all.

I inherited my aunt Wanda when Mom died.  She turned 68 last year.  I 
wouldn't describe her as mentally "ill", although she is legally mentally 
disabled.  She is quite capable of taking care of her personal self, but her 
mentally is somewhere around 7 or 8.  She lives in the "now", like most 
children (which means she is happy as a child when I take her shopping and 
buy her something, but the next day that memory is gone and she's on to the 
next thing she wants and is really good at making you feel guilty that you 
can't take her shopping every day ;)).  She frequently argues with Cassy on 
Cassy's level.  She cannot read, although she can copy letters and can 
address envelopes.  If I remember rightly, she had meningitis at the age of 
three and this caused her problems.  I might be remembering the illness 
incorrectly though.

Anyway - the reason I bring this up is because at the age of 4, the state 
tried to convince my Grandma (the mother of 9, but only of 3 at the time) 
that Wanda would be better off in an institution, that she would be a burden 
on the family and would never develop mentally at all beyond the stage she 
was at.  Grandma said "(insert favorite expletive here) you" and kept her at 
home, then sent her to school the same as any other school aged child.  While 
she never learned to read, Mom and I were quite convinced she has dyslexia, 
(based on the backwards letters that sometimes occur when she is copying 
something) and that, on top of her limited mental skills contributed to her 
never learning.  I honestly think that if she were a child today, she would 
learn to read, albeit not at an advanced level.  I guess my point is - back 
in the days we are discussing here (the days of restraints and shackles and 
grim institutions and the absolute shunning of those with mental problems), 
if Grandma had listened to the experts she would have shunted Wanda off to 
the nearest institution (which wasn't very near, in that coal mining town in 
WV).  Yes, she is hard to live with sometimes.  You can reason with her, but 
often she either forgets or disregards previous conversations.  It is 
aggravating, annoying, and sometimes just plain frustrating.  But I can't for 
a moment stop being thankful that Grandma had the strength of will to believe 
in Wanda, for if she hadn't, Wanda never would have become as capable and 
self sufficient as she is today.  So I guess the respect that OB asked for 
just made me want to write this, and second that motion.

Red


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