The Most Amazing Thing

I think I’ve mentioned before that I live next door to an assisted living home.  Oh, come to think of it, I’ve also mentioned that my neighbors are assholes, so let me clarify.  I have neighbors on both sides.  On one side is an assisted living home that has four apartments – so four individuals who receive what appears to be 24-hour assistance live there.  On the other side is a double with two sets of identical bland early-thirties couples.  One night, bland couple #1 had typical loud, drunken, annoying party where not-so-attractive girls (I’m just sayin’) shrieked “Oh my Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahd!” on the front porch and guys said “bro” a lot.  The guy from bland couple #2 then decided to DRUNKLY COME OVER TO MY HOME TO TRY TO CAJOLE MY UNDERAGE SON INTO JOINING THEM FOR A BEER--WITH FULL KNOWLEDGE THAT MY SON WAS UNDERAGE!  (My son’s response, “No.  You’re acting like an asshole.  Now pick up that beer can.”)  Understandably, I consider bland couple #1 and #2 to be scourges on the community, and I just pretend that they’re dead.  I am not talking about them in this post.  I’m talking about my awesome neighbors.  The assisted living ones.

And I’m not going to go all, “A very special Cats with Knives” on you, and explain how my neighbors who have Down’s Syndrome and other conditions that require them to have extra care are the most special people on earth because they are innocent and kind, and take every day as it comes, and etc.  I’m not going to talk about how the bus comes down our street every day and takes them to work so that they can be productive, contributing members of our society.  I’m not going to say any condescending crap about them, because that may all be true, but that’s not why I like them.

I like them because their home is owned by an organization called Creative Housing.  I know that because the Creative Housing van is often parked outside, and the people who work there are cutting the grass, or fixing the gutters, or installing a back patio.  If you follow the link above to the Creative Housing website, you'll see that it is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing safe, accessible and affordable housing to individuals with disabilities in the Columbus metropolitan area.  That is exactly what they do.  The apartment building is meticulously maintained, safe for the people who live there, responsible to the community, and the people who work there are amazing.  AMAZING.

As a law student for the past 4 years, I set my study materials up at the kitchen table.  I didn’t want to do all of my studying upstairs in the office, removed from my son, so I decided to work in the kitchen, facing out the window, looking directly at the door of Creative Housing.  I see the people who work there, who in all likelihood are home health workers – an often underpaid and overworked population – entering and leaving at all hours of the day.  I see them accompanying the residents to the grocery store, sitting with the residents out on the porch, and having a cookout in the backyard.  What I don’t see - not ever – are workers being impatient with the residents, hurrying them along, or insisting they come inside.  I never see them smoking a cigarette or reading a book.  I have lived in this house for about ten years, and not once have I seen these workers be anything but incredible.  Not just able, incredible.

Even more, from my window, I see families.  Parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles…visiting their loved ones – all of whom are full-grown, but none of whom can be successful independently.  And I often think about how worried these parents must be for their children, knowing that they will likely pass away before their children, and scared that they can never adequately prepare their kids for this eventuality.  To be a parent is to worry, but I think that the worry that these parents must face is monumental – and the love that keeps them bright, loving, and dedicated to their children must be incredibly powerful.  I hope they know and are comforted by the fact that their children are in a safe, well-maintained place to live, and receiving care from people who are kind and caring to their children. 

More and more, we live in a world where everyone’s good motive is suspect, and often we find out that something that was begun with a good purpose has become ineffective, either because of lack of money, or futility, or because the original do-gooder just lost interest.  But I have to say, living next to Creative Housing is a daily sip of restored faith.  The folks behind this endeavor (and there are Creative Housing apartments and houses all over Columbus) are truly the image of love and grace, and I am so lucky to be their neighbor.