[humanser] volunteers

[Darla Rogers]

Dear Ericka,

	A former boss began with:  "I grew up in the 'hood."  The gist of
the whole meeting was that we weren't working hard enough; I usually make
friends easily and did so there, so I know a good number of my former
coworkers didn't grow up easy either--in  fact I saw a lot of compassion;
gentle pushing toward the possible, etc.
	I moved away from family over 40 years ago, so when I had to be
there three times in about as many months to help my sister with my mother,
various family members didn't quite know how to act around me, but my late
sister, also blind, didn't leave until after she graduated high school in
1978, and she began public school in junior high; while I only did my last
two years of high school in public school.
	We have a lot of mental illness on my mother's side; Dad's family
seems to have had more alcoholism, though I don't know as much about some of
them but love the ones I do know probably a little more than Mom's side, as
a few of her family members put on airs even though I'm better-educated and
traveled more than most of them.
Darla


-----Original Message-----
From: humanser [mailto:humanser-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ericka
Short
Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2014 10:44 PM
To: Human Services Mailing List
Subject: Re: [humanser] volunteers

No wonder you went into counseling.  You  wanted to help families to not
repeat the weirdness you have to put up with.  Your family is so foreign to
me.  There's about four of us between the two sides that  are in some way
disabled.  My cousin is ADHD and some other minor issues because he was the
child of parents with some real issues.  My uncle was an alcoholic and did
drugs.  My Aunt is visually impaired and Schizophrenic.  A second cousin is
cognitively challenged. The other two are severely leaning disabled. None of
us have been "hidden" from family at all.  We are welcome anywhere and we
look out for each other.  When I married, I began to understand the drama
though.  Depression, Bipolar, Autism, learning delays/speech problems,
social anxiety, bad relationships and difficulty keeping a job--it's all
there somewhere in the history.  Still, I love 'em all!  My mom's family was
more like yours without the disability issues when she was growing up.  I
can say  my life was no fairytale as many think because my parents are still
married to each other and the relatives talk to each other more than once a
year.

Ericka Short
262-697-0510

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". Philippians 4:13

"No hand is too small or too big to do good in this world." EJ. Short 


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