Letter to a Governor
Subject: Received your email on the birth of the Governor's Son
That is fantastic and congratulations on the
birth of a healthy child, and I truly wish all
the best for your child, and for him or her to
grow up and prosper, and to lead a healthy life.
I'm sure you are all visualizing great things
for your child.
I received that email because I believed in you,
and that you were young enough not to let handlers
take over your decisions, and I voted for you in
the last election.
Now, I would like you to close your eyes, and
imagine waking up 5,6,8 years later, only to find out
that your child has mid to severe mental retardation
issues. Imagine how devastating, absolutely Life
altering and crushing that would be.
Depending on their circumstances, perhaps they
would have a permanent 8-10 year old mental capacity,
and would be needed to be taught the simplest of
things over and over, as much as every week, or more.
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Perhaps, as in this article in 2004....
It's a plan that scares Betty Coll, whose 48-year-old
son Patrick has lived at Bellefontaine for 40 years.
Patrick too is severely retarded, but he also suffers
from autism, cannot speak and has a tendency to
ingest inedible objects. Betty Coll says her son will
be lost without the home he has known all of his life.
It is a plan that scares Mary Vitale, whose brother
Jim Dietrich has lived at Bellefontaine for 42 years.
She likened news of Blunt's announcement to close the
center to the day 17 years ago when she learned
another brother of hers had been killed.
"My brother Jim will not survive but for a few months
if he's moved," she said while speaking at a meeting
of Bellefontaine's Parents Association on Sunday.
"I'm trying to save my brother's life."
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Imagine for a moment that this were to happen to
your son. Bad people are and were in the Navy all the
time, as there are always bad apples in every crowd.
And while it would be unfair to cast that shadow on
the whole Navy and those who served, it is also
unfounded to blame the whole Bellefonatine Hab Center,
and the many dedicated union workers, who give the
kind of care, that is regulated, that can't be
matched.
You'd want the best for your child, whatever it is
that you could do for them, to visit them, be near
them.
Do the right thing, young Governor, there is still
time
Sincerely,
Larry J Hayden