Assisting
Independence
Continued
by Tim Bugansky
photos by Allison Waltz
 Brian Van Almen checks to see if Rick has a fever. |
Burick greets the men as they arrive at Meridian. He points out that Bert's shirt is on backwards. Bert reaches his arm back and discovers he's wearing the breast pocket over his right shoulder. He quickly disappears into his bedroom. When he returns, the shirt is on properly.
Bert heads downstairs with Ricky and Doug. Bert cradles his prized possession, an AM/FM cassette radio. They pass through the kitchen, where habilitation aide April Jewett is preparing dinner with Kevin's help. The three proceed out the back door and gather around a picnic table that sits in the backyard.
Before dinner there's one more program to complete - the street-crossing program.
Habitat aide Priscilla Fox emerges through the back door with Rick and Michael. She calls to Ricky, Bert and Doug. They form a line behind her and march to the sidewalk. At every intersection and driveway they stop. The first resident steps forward, then stops at the threshold. He looks back and forth, scanning for traffic. Then he marches across the intersection and waits on the other side for his friends.
They proceed toward downtown Ravenna, pausing at the intersections, looking both ways and crossing. Fox looks both ways with them, then observes them attentively as they cross.
They are downtown now, gazing at the shops and traffic on Main Street. They swing their arms as they follow Fox down the street, five men in shorts and sweat pants walking briskly in the pleasant autumn weather.