thisthatandotherstuff

July 1998 was so hot you could see the waves of heat rippling above the concrete sidewalk leading in front of Magnolia Cottage.  When I walked into the building the smell of urine and feces was the first thing that hit me along with the crying and yelling that seemed to come from both ends of the long building. There was a huge central room that had several sofas covered in vinyl, I assumed for easy cleaning.

A woman dressed in scrubs hurried up to Misty, a co-worker and I with a handful of papers, she asked if we had come for Faye.  I replied that we had, and asked if she was ready to leave.  She motioned to us to follow her, she unlocked a set of double doors, and once they were opened, the stench was unbelievable.  We were directed to a room at the end of the hallway.  Inside the room a graying, above average sized woman was pacing back and forth gesturing at a staff person who was standing in front of two large garbage bags and several boxes.  We gathered up her meager belongings and loaded them into the van; she grunted and chuckled when she settled into the van.  We also had to pick up her new housemate before leaving, upon arriving at her new housemate Linda’s cottage, Faye refused to get out of the van.  Misty went into the cottage to gather Linda’s belongings and Linda so we could be on our way.  I remember thinking to myself “What on earth had I gotten myself into?”

Faye was quite intimidating, she was a large woman, she was non-verbal, and apparently had not seen a razor in years.  She had only twelve teeth left, and one in the front was missing.  She was diagnosed as being Autistic, Pica, Obsessive-compulsive disorder, and a Hepatitis B carrier; she also pulled her hair out as a source of sensory stimulation so while she had almost a full goatee she also had huge bald spots on her head.

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