Spent a few wonderful days with one of the greatest women in America, nay, the world: my grandma. With my Grandpa Joe passing away in 1986, she’s made sure to stay active and awesome, retiring from her job at the local bank only a few years ago after three decades, funding projects for people with special needs, visiting nursing homes to show love and attention to those with no one else, presiding over various comissions to help the disadvantaged, and bowling in a league with her girlfriends. There’s more, but I couldn’t keep track of it all. Needless to say, I’m so proud of the woman I could explode.
I arrived just in time to get an early morning tour Ste. Genevieve Industries, a non-profit where my Aunt Annette works along with approximately 70 other adults with special needs. Employees–with varying degrees of disability–are assigned fundamental tasks to perform such as operating machines that bag ice, constructing wooden shipping pallets, or assembling electronic components, receiving a paycheck for their labor just like a regular workplace. It was a life-affirming experience, seeing the fulfilled faces of Annette and her coworkers, their obvious pride in knowing that they are asset to their community, instead of a liability.
Otherwise, we spent the days eating chicken noodle soup and ham sandwiches, gabbing about this and that, catching up and chillaxing, Missouri-style. The weather was clear and breezy, a welcome change from the previous week. The morning that I left, we grabbed breakfast at the Kozy Kitchen, a small café in the little town my grandma calls home, and I asked the waitress to snap a few pictures.
Now that I’m in a better mind, I can retell the story of a tired, forlorn traveler, taken in by a lovely couple and their equally lovely house, and shown hospitality undeserved. That man was me, and that couple was Heather (Frye-Kelley) and her husband John, good friends who recently relocated to Fayetteville so John can get his MFA. The overcast night had turned my drive in through the Ozarks into an endless tunnel, nullifying my peripheral vision and fraying my nerves. As this caused me to arrive later than planned, they stayed up later than was probably conducive to the busy weekday ahead to catch up and entertain, making sure I always had a cold PBR in my hand, and recommending off some great music/bookage.
Unfortunately, in the woozy grayness of the morning, I only snapped three–waaaaay-too-blurry-to-post–pictures before I decamped to the previously-posted-about coffee house (I’m a little rusty on my DSLR). I give you a picture of my friends in front of their adorable abode, hot off of John’s blog, which I have now linked to in the sidebar.
Special thanks to Dexter and Nico Frye-Kelley, for waking me up on time.
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My incredible aunt Annette and the equally incredible Grandma Mary Huck. Even after eight kids, she manages to improve the lives of others as a tireless advocate for special needs citizens, finding funding for adult day care in Saint Genevieve, Missouri, supporting the local group home, not to mention constant visits to friends who don’t get around so well anymore. All that, and at 81 she still rocks in her bowling league, and keeps them in tune in her church choir.
Getting to sit down with her at Christmas was easily the highlight of my year. So much love in such a little lady, and so much to teach me.
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Everyone in Saint Louis smokes.
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