Grabbing my hand as I walk in the door, she pulls me down on the floor with to look for her toys. When I come up empty handed she jumps up and scrambles into the other room leaving me behind to struggle to my feet.
At 75 my Aunt June is extremely active and boisterous. Even though her vocabulary is limited to less than 10 words her body language expresses a love of life and contentedness that only a few of us ever find.
The roomy group home in beautiful Dutchess County, NY has been her home since moving out of the state institution in 1991. My memories of visiting the institution as a child are filled with fear and loathing. My parents had to promise something special afterward to keep me from kicking and screaming the whole time.
Then, like now, my family kept close watch over June. She was always well cared for and never abused, but even as a young child, there was no avoiding the sense that something was just wrong with the way things were.
I’m glad June finally arrived at a place where she feels completely at home. I just wish it had happened 40 years earlier.