NOTE: There is no NAMI Educational Meeting in December due to the
date falling so near Christmas Day. Happy Holidays to Everyone from NAMI
Butler County Board of Directors and the staff (Sally Fiehrer and Rhonda
Benson) and thanks for all you do to support NAMI of Butler County!
NEXT MEETING DATE IS THURSDAY, JANUARY 21ST AT THE NAMI OFFICE IN
FAIRFIELD.
NAMIWALK 2009 AWARDS DINNER SLIDESHOW
A THANKSGIVING STORY
By: Randy T. Rogers
November 23, 2009
"Thank you very much!" The young artist’s final words
burst from the paper the judge now held, opening a flow of warm memories
of the events that explained the colored-pencil drawing just delivered
to the judge’s chambers.
A year or so before, this young man had accompanied his
mother and her future husband to the courthouse. "Will the judge marry
us today?" the woman asked the clerk. "I know him. I’m sure he’ll
remember me. He once gave my son Scotty some
Legos, when
Scotty was a little boy. It’s been a few years, but I know he will
remember. Please ask him!"
When the clerk asked, the judge’s memory ran back to a
time, ten years before, when he had noticed Scotty and his mother
sitting near the front of the church he attended. Scotty came each
Sunday seated in his wheelchair, his body weakened by a severe form of
muscular dystrophy. The older man’s heart was touched as he watched the
little boy struggle to do simple things most people take for granted.
One December Sunday the judge asked the mother if there was anything her
son would like for Christmas. "He loves
Legos! "
she responded. The following week Scotty left the church with a brand
new bucket of the multi-colored plastic building bricks, and a grin on
his face that stretched from ear to ear. A few months later Scotty and
his mother moved on to another church nearer to their home, and the
judge lost track of the little boy and his new
Legos.
"Bring them in the courtroom," the judge instructed his
clerk. "I remember that little boy and how his eyes lit up when I gave
him those
Legos. He really loved those things. It’s been years, but I still
remember the look on his face when I put that bucket on the tray of his
wheelchair. Sure, I’ll be happy to perform that wedding ceremony for his
mom, and Scotty can be one of the witnesses."
When they rolled Scotty into the courtroom that day, the
judge quickly noticed that the debilitating effects of the young man’s
disease had increased during the years since the judge had last seen the
little boy, now turned young adult. Scotty now lived in a group home and
had a legal guardian. No one really knew how many more years he had to
live. Every day was a struggle for him, but Scotty bravely faced the
challenges of each new day.
After the wedding ceremony, the judge took his gavel
down to where Scotty was sitting, and with a little help from his
mother, Scotty banged the gavel and flashed the same boyish smile the
judge first saw years before. "Scotty’s become an artist," his mother
boasted, as the reunion continued. "He goes to a workshop at the
developmental center, and the workers there are helping him learn how to
draw. He’s getting pretty good at it."
"It that true, Scotty?" the judge inquired. Scotty
nodded. "Do you think you could find time to draw me a picture of this
courtroom? I would love to have one. Your mom could bring it up to me,
or maybe you could come back and give it to me yourself." Again, Scotty
nodded. "Great! I look forward to seeing what you can do."
Months went by and the judge forgot about the promised
drawing. Then one day, Scotty’s grandfather called the court and told
the clerk, "Our grandson, Scotty, drew a picture for the judge and he
wanted to make sure the judge got it. Our little Scotty died last week…
and he wanted us to bring this picture to the judge."
Studying the colored-pencil drawing of the courtroom,
the judge marveled at the detail the young artist had included in the
picture he had promised to give to the man who once gave him a big
bucket of
Legos. There was the courtroom door with the "Exit" sign above,
complete with the two emergency lights. Next to the door was the bucket
of 350
Legos that had made Scotty’s eyes light up ten years before. Down in
the lower left-hand corner of the picture, Scotty had drawn the wedding
bands, and in one had even inscribed his mother’s new name.
"Judge, when Scotty drew this picture for you, he was
not able to lift his arms, but he could move his wrists," his mother
reported. "The workers helped position the colored pencils in his hands
and placed the paper on the table, but Scotty did all of the drawing and
he picked the colors…. He really wanted you to have this."
Continuing to scan the "work of art," and more fully
understanding how much effort Scotty had poured into his task, the judge
noticed a stack of books on the judge’s bench that Scotty had included
in his rendering of the courtroom. One blue-colored book was entitled,
100
Legos-The Story of Lego Bricks, and on top of that book was an
orange-colored volume entitled,
Ohio Law.
But on top of all the other books there was a Bible. "Scotty asked me if
it would be okay to put a Bible in the courtroom ... He really wanted
there to be a Bible … I told him that it would be okay… I hope that’s
alright," his mother added.
Finally the judge noticed that in the center of the
picture, Scotty had drawn a brown-colored gavel. On the gavel Scotty had
written the inscription, "Thank you very much!"
"This young man could not lift his arms, but he made me a work of
art," the judge thought to himself. "I gave him a bucket of
Legos, and
he gave me a lesson in life… I wish he were still alive… I wish I could
tell him…’Thank you, Scotty… Thank you very much.’"
NAMI Support Group for F2F graduates
Thursday, December 3rd at 7:00 pm
NAMI Butler County has recently started a support group for graduates of
our Family to Family signature program. The purpose of this group is to
offer continuing support to anyone who has graduated from the program.
We meet and talk about what is going on in our lives right now, share
information and coping techniques, and in general provide each other
with support that enriches our lives.
Join us on the first Thursday of every month and find out for yourself
how rewarding it can be to laugh, cry and share. Meetings are held at
7:00 p.m. at the NAMI office located at 5963 Boymel Drive in Fairfield.
2009 BUTLER COUNTY NAMIWALK SUCCESS
Thank you for supporting our 2009 NAMIWALK - the weather turned out and
so did all of you with your friends, families, co-workers, faith
communities, children and family pets.
Thanks for encouraging others to get involved, others who appreciate
how important mental health awareness is to every community.
We had the most walkers ever and raised more funds than ever
before...we are almost at $40,000 and counting.
Your fundraising will enable three small NAMI organizations to
continue to provide unique educational, advocacy and support services to
people in our own local communities while raising mental health
awareness and dispelling stigma.
If some people still want to donate or pledged to donate that didn't
get the chance, the NAMI website for credit card donations is open for
60 days after the walk.
A NAMI Connection support group meets the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each
month , 7-8:30 PM, at the
Lindner
Center of Hope, 4075 Old Western Row Rd., Mason. (Between I-71 and
Mason-Montgomery Rd.)
NAMI Connection is a recovery support group program for people living
with mental illnesses like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression,
anxiety disorders and other serious mental illnesses. This group will
give you a chance to talk with others to share coping strategies and
insights, as well as problems and concerns. This group will be
facilitated by trained peer facilitators.
