Monday, August 28, 2017

For Melanie...

Melanie Griffin was the director of the Activity Center when I worked at the Fernald State School. She succumbed to her progressive brain cancer last week. I was so happy to see her when she came to the last night of the play I was in. That was just about 2 years ago and she was fighting it like a champ. 
Melanie was very tolerant of me and my mischief. After all, I was one of the most swashbuckling Recreation Directors that school had ever seen. I think it was unwritten that she would put her foot down (and mean it) if I ever got too insane. 
The Center used to be the Boys Dorm (in the dark ages) and was still referred to as BD by the residents. My guys were institutionalized by decades of old state workers to go to bed after dinner.
Of course, part of my job was to deprogram that. 
My guys emulated the old state workers. They all smoked pipes. They all had a million keys jangling on their belts. They all had watches, even though most of them couldn't tell time, at least the way we did.
One of the increments of time THEY had was called 'by and by'. It roughly meant around 45 minutes.
It seemed several garage bands figured out that they could basically practice at the Center. Melanie let them if it was open to the residents and make it a dance night.
Whenever they was something going on at the Center, be it a band, a movie night, a theater troupe, an art group or anything else from the outside, there'd be a significant number of extra cars parked around the building.
Every night after dinner, I'd be heading out with a half dozen guys for some kind of community experience trip or one of my infamous campouts.
All the other guys would crowd around wanting to go, too.
I had to tell them not to go to bed, but that however something cool was happening that night at the Activity Center. I had to tell them in a language they would understand. I had to tell them in THEIR language.
I'd point out that they weren't in this specific group, but they would be later that week, however LOTS OF CARS COMING DOWN BD BY AND BY.
They'd all all be amazed and collectively say something like, "Really?"
I'd answer, "Yeah, really."
And they'd enthusiastically say, "OK!" and they'd get ready to head down there. I knew they'd be in good hands down there with Melanie.