Amanda and her Grandmother understood that it was better to stick together in a world so big and fast. They also stuck with the people at the Carson Center who understood their developmental disabilities. Amanda didn’t hear those voices in her head anymore, and she didn’t feel as worried about her growing blindness. The medications help with the voices, and being with people who understand her helps everything else.
Grandma lived a long time and had a good life. That’s what everyone says. She was ninety. At forty, where could Amanda find a family?
Carson staff helped Amanda find an adult foster home. Her new family understood her. They put really pretty frames on Grandma’s pictures in her new room. Amanda could feel with her hands how intricate the designs were.
And they tried to make the noodle casserole the way Grandma did, but they don’t ever get the cheese right.
Amanda wouldn’t say that out loud to her new family, but her Carson worker knows it is true.
At sixty, Amanda’s back surgery didn’t go very well They needed to do it again. Her Carson workers could see how difficult it was for Amanda to answer the doctor’s questions. Over twenty years they had come to know her so well that seeing her face told them she was in overwhelming pain, but unable to express this fully. Amanda and her workers found her doctor and made a plan to have Amanda’s pain managed better.
Over the next weeks, her Carson worker held her hand as they talked about adjusting, about a plan for healing, about getting back home again.
By JAC Patrissi
