Christmas Supplement

Helping men with disabilities made Christmas 2005 special

By Amy Duncan

Special to The Criterion

Our son, Carl, was born two months prematurely on Christmas morning in 1982. Nothing will ever top that Christmas, but last year came close.

Due to his premature birth, Carl developed cerebral palsy and is mildly mentally disabled. He always lived with us until the summer of 2005.

In July of last year, he moved into a brand new group home that opened in our area. For the first few months, Carl and Joe were the only residents of the home.

That changed when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005. Forty group homes owned by the company that operates my son’s home were affected by the storm that decimated the Gulf Coast region.

Four men moved in within days of the hurricane. Greg was sickly. Mike was happy-go-lucky. Eugene was always cold and wanted to go home. Brien loved to chew on anything—especially socks. I don’t think Carl had a decent pair of socks the whole time that Brien was in the house!

As Christmas approached, Carl’s Dad and I knew that the holidays wouldn’t be the same without Carl in our home. We needed something to help the “empty nest” feeling we were experiencing so we decided to “adopt” the men living in Carl’s home for Christmas.

My husband, Carl and I shopped for gifts for the men. Our friends, Micki and Roger, wanted to help, too. Besides shopping for the men, Roger agreed to play Santa. I had the Santa suit and Roger provided Santa’s sleigh bells.

Before Santa arrived, we told Roger how to identify each of the men in Carl’s home. Santa called each man by name as he gave him a gift.

All the men received the basics—T-shirts and socks—and there was a special gift for each man.

Joe, who likes cartoons, received some new DVDs. Greg and Mike received some much-needed new shirts. Eugene, who was always cold, was a big NASCAR fan. His special gift from Santa was a fleece blanket with a race car design. Brien’s special gift was supposed to be some black sweatpants but, judging from the look on his face, I know his special gift was the bag of socks he was given!

I don’t think any of us will ever forget the expressions on those men’s faces that night.

Greg returned to Louisiana on the day after Christmas. Mike, Eugene and Brien returned there shortly after the first of the year.

Christmas 2005 was different at our house. Yes, our “nest” was empty, but it sure was full at Carl’s home.

(Amy Duncan is a member of Holy Family Parish in New Albany.) †