Moving John to John's town

My wife and I brought her brother John from Texas. Priscilla and I were on the road 4.5 days of the six-day trip. One-way to Texarkana is 1,022 miles.

I have written about John before. He had his 59th birthday a couple of weeks ago. His mental cognitive age is 5 or 6. For more than 35 years, John worked at Resources Texarkana, with 40 other disabled men and women. (I know -- The proper term is “people with disabilities,” not “disabled people,” so the advocates of disabled people say. “People are not disabled; they have disabilities.” I’m not supposed to say John is mentally retarded or physically handicapped, but he is. His mental and physical abilities were retarded at birth and never developed beyond what is normal for a 5- or 6-year-old. Years ago, “mentally retarded” changed to “mentally challenged” by decision makers who decided “retarded” is a bad word. No one would remember when “challenged” was “retarded.” But, people deemed “mentally challenged” are not challenged at all; they produce to the best of their abilities. If I were in an office with Albert Einstein 60 years ago, I would be, in modern description, mentally challenged because some things he could do, I could not. To go further back, “afflicted” was the term once applied to people who were mentally and/or physically retarded.)

Resources Texarkana had a retirement party for John. Everybody was happy. People celebrated John’s retirement. There were tacos, refried beans and Spanish rice and cake and extended lunch time.

John says Resources will move to Florida. Priscilla and I tell him it will not, but what John truly believes is locked in place and will not change.

John calls this part of Florida “Kathleen’s town” because our daughter Kathleen lives nearby. Priscilla told John this is now John’s town. I don’t know if that will take. Resources is not in John’s town.