More ramblings from my past...

Here is another essay I wrote. This one from 1999 or so...

For a time, I was working as the Program Manager for a residential care company. Part of this job meant I was "on call" and had to go in and substitute if one of my workers called in sick. I can't say I minded it much though because I've always loved the direct client contact. Sometimes, the residents of the home were more perceptive than they were given credit for. One resident came to us in a very serious state of mind. She was born with Down Syndrome and was exhibiting the early stages of Alzheimer's. Most of the time, she was fine but occasionally she would become very confused, disoriented and forgetful. On one such occasion, she began yelling at the top of her lungs at 8am and continued throughout the day.

This was, of course, was disrupting all of the other residents and they were getting agitated. In an effort to calm her down I sat with her and talked in a calm, soothing voice. Every time I spoke she would stop but when I stopped speaking her screaming would resume. I was getting frustrated but continued to try to calm her down. Finally, I began asking her questions in an attempt to get a verbal response. When I asked, "What's your name?" She responded appropriately. When I asked her, "What's my name?" She yelled out, "DUMMY!"

We all got a good laugh about that and she finally stopped yelling. The funny part of all of this is that the next day when I arrived for work she came out of her room all smiles and full of greetings for the staff. She went up to each one of them and saying, "Good morning, Carrie. Good morning, Alice." etc, etc....until she got to me. She took my hand, looked me right in the eyes and said...


"Good morning, DUMMY!"

And she called me that every day for the rest of her stay at that home!