Post by Dean Robinson on Aug 5, 2008 9:19:39 GMT -5
KITCHENER, Ont. - Frank Doherty is at his best when he's patting a homeless cat.
poet, volunteer and cat lover: Frank Doherty pets a cat at the Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society on July 16 in Kitchener, Ontario. Frank is an intellectually challenged man who has won honourable mention in a poetry contest for intellectually challenged individuals in Ontario. He volunteers at the humane society where he cuddles cats.
Once a week, when he's feeling good and things are going well, Frank, 37, arrives at the Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society with his counsellor. He sizes up the cages and chooses which cats he'll cuddle.
He chats with them, and they answer in a cacophony of meows. On this day, a grey tabby makes a dash for freedom, spilling out of the cage and scrambling out of the room.
Frank is unfazed. "They're different cats every week," he muses.
"Mother, do you remember when we had a cat of our own?" he asks, turning to the grey-haired woman with the runaway in her arms.
"This is his favourite volunteer job," says Margaret Doherty, smiling. This is the son she knows; this is the son she loves; this is the son who gives such heart-tugging glimpses of the boy she and her husband adopted 32 years ago.
"I like the animals and staff because they take care of me," Frank says. He has been coming here at least 10 years.
Severely brain-damaged as a result of abuse when he was an infant, Frank was four years old and in a crib at Children's Psychiatric Research Institute in London when Margaret first saw him.
She was a nurse working on his unit. Her husband was training there to be a counsellor for intellectually challenged kids.
There was something about Frank then, and there's something about Frank now that convinced her of his potential.
She saw his heart, his sense of humour and intelligence, despite his injury.
Frank places the squirming cats back in their cage and walks to the humane society office where he reads his friends a funny poem he wrote.
"You're a nut bar, buddy," operations manager Jamie LaFlamme says, laughing.
"Oh, thanks." Frank grins back.
The poem, called My Love Legacy, won honourable mention in an Ontario contest for writers with intellectual disabilities.
"This was one of the poems that just made every judge have a grin ear to ear," says Addie Daabous, executive director of IDEAL-WAY, a non-profit charitable organization with a mandate to improve attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities.
Frank's poem features his "romance" with Daisy Duck and Minnie Mouse.
Disney World is Frank's favourite place to visit. He has gone 11 times, he says, with family and later with friends at his Christian Horizons group home.
He likes Dumbo best because he flies. When he was growing up, Frank's gentle adoptive dad, George Doherty, would take him to the airport to see the planes. When George died six years ago, it left a huge hole in Frank's life.
"I'm the only man who has to take care of my mom in Kitchener," Frank says.
When Frank was four, Margaret and George Doherty were told he wouldn't live long.
In 1974, the little boy, brain-damaged and with cerebral palsy, was having 50 to 75 seizures a day. He wore a helmet.
Next month, Frank turns 38.
"We can't believe we were blessed with Frank," says Margaret, 66, at her Kitchener apartment.
George and Margaret were newly married and living in Sault Ste. Marie when George began training as a counsellor for children with intellectual disabilities. Margaret had a daughter, Anne; George had a son, Michael.
When George started a placement at Children's Psychiatric Research Institute, Margaret, a registered nurse, went with him. Frank was one of her first patients there. He was four, though he looked 2 1/2. His behaviour was out of control.
"He was only getting attention for bad behaviour," she said.
The little boy started calling her "mom" right away.
"I immediately saw things in Frank because of the way he reacted and the way he wanted to love. There was more than met the eye," she said.
Her husband noticed the little boy, too.
"Frank is a special boy," he told her. "Did you know they're looking for foster parents for him?"
After consulting with their children, the couple made plans to take Frank home to Sault Ste. Marie.
"It wasn't smooth, but it was wonderful," Margaret says. "We saw him come alive. He felt loved and he responded."
He was "like a sponge, taking it all in."
George got a job with the Children's Aid Society while Margaret stayed home with Frank, who was still having multiple seizures every day. There were constant medical appointments. Frank attended nursery school, then a school for children with mental and physical challenges, and later a regular school where he was in a special unit.
"He developed really well," Margaret said. "We tried to make his life as normal as possible within the restrictions he had."
As long as Frank knew what was expected, the days went better. Changes threw him off, making him act out and angry. Anxiety continues to be a problem.
"Every six months, we'd sit down and say, 'What can we do to make things different? How can we make our family a better family, and have we changed our feelings about Frank?'"
They adopted Frank in 1976.
In 1987, the family moved to Kitchener to seek better resources. The couple's health was forcing them to think ahead. Margaret had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. George had heart problems, resulting in open heart surgery in 1992.
From ages 16 to 21, Frank thrived in a special program at what was then University Heights Secondary School in Waterloo.
"That was a little bit of heaven," Margaret said. "He had wonderful teachers."
Unfortunately, the structured programs ended after graduation, and Frank suffered from the lack, Margaret said.
The couple's health worsened. It broke Margaret's heart to admit she couldn't manage with Frank at home anymore.
In 1995, Frank found a place to live in a Christian Horizons group home, where he's aided by a valued full-time staff member. Frank volunteers; attends social programs; visits his mom.
Frank has good days, and not-so-good days when he's his own toughest critic. Today's humane society visit is a good day.
When her son reads his poem, Margaret is heartened.
"He's strong; he's funny; he's caring," she says. "He's still a wonderful, wonderful person."
***
My Love Legacy
By Frank Doherty
I wanted to marry Daisy
But she thought i was crazy
So I went to bed and cried
She told me she loved me
but she lied
So I called up my friend Mickey
Because the situation was so sticky
"Don't worry" he said, she's a duck
with her you'll have no luck
The next thing you knew
I caught Daisy with Pooh
And then I had no clue what to do
Then I kidnapped Mickey mouse
And locked him in my house
I went and bought Minnie a rose
She's lovely from head to her toes
She has cute lips
And skinney hips
So I asked if she would marry me
And the rest is history
dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/liveit/article/372703
poet, volunteer and cat lover: Frank Doherty pets a cat at the Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society on July 16 in Kitchener, Ontario. Frank is an intellectually challenged man who has won honourable mention in a poetry contest for intellectually challenged individuals in Ontario. He volunteers at the humane society where he cuddles cats.
Once a week, when he's feeling good and things are going well, Frank, 37, arrives at the Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society with his counsellor. He sizes up the cages and chooses which cats he'll cuddle.
He chats with them, and they answer in a cacophony of meows. On this day, a grey tabby makes a dash for freedom, spilling out of the cage and scrambling out of the room.
Frank is unfazed. "They're different cats every week," he muses.
"Mother, do you remember when we had a cat of our own?" he asks, turning to the grey-haired woman with the runaway in her arms.
"This is his favourite volunteer job," says Margaret Doherty, smiling. This is the son she knows; this is the son she loves; this is the son who gives such heart-tugging glimpses of the boy she and her husband adopted 32 years ago.
"I like the animals and staff because they take care of me," Frank says. He has been coming here at least 10 years.
Severely brain-damaged as a result of abuse when he was an infant, Frank was four years old and in a crib at Children's Psychiatric Research Institute in London when Margaret first saw him.
She was a nurse working on his unit. Her husband was training there to be a counsellor for intellectually challenged kids.
There was something about Frank then, and there's something about Frank now that convinced her of his potential.
She saw his heart, his sense of humour and intelligence, despite his injury.
Frank places the squirming cats back in their cage and walks to the humane society office where he reads his friends a funny poem he wrote.
"You're a nut bar, buddy," operations manager Jamie LaFlamme says, laughing.
"Oh, thanks." Frank grins back.
The poem, called My Love Legacy, won honourable mention in an Ontario contest for writers with intellectual disabilities.
"This was one of the poems that just made every judge have a grin ear to ear," says Addie Daabous, executive director of IDEAL-WAY, a non-profit charitable organization with a mandate to improve attitudes toward people with intellectual disabilities.
Frank's poem features his "romance" with Daisy Duck and Minnie Mouse.
Disney World is Frank's favourite place to visit. He has gone 11 times, he says, with family and later with friends at his Christian Horizons group home.
He likes Dumbo best because he flies. When he was growing up, Frank's gentle adoptive dad, George Doherty, would take him to the airport to see the planes. When George died six years ago, it left a huge hole in Frank's life.
"I'm the only man who has to take care of my mom in Kitchener," Frank says.
When Frank was four, Margaret and George Doherty were told he wouldn't live long.
In 1974, the little boy, brain-damaged and with cerebral palsy, was having 50 to 75 seizures a day. He wore a helmet.
Next month, Frank turns 38.
"We can't believe we were blessed with Frank," says Margaret, 66, at her Kitchener apartment.
George and Margaret were newly married and living in Sault Ste. Marie when George began training as a counsellor for children with intellectual disabilities. Margaret had a daughter, Anne; George had a son, Michael.
When George started a placement at Children's Psychiatric Research Institute, Margaret, a registered nurse, went with him. Frank was one of her first patients there. He was four, though he looked 2 1/2. His behaviour was out of control.
"He was only getting attention for bad behaviour," she said.
The little boy started calling her "mom" right away.
"I immediately saw things in Frank because of the way he reacted and the way he wanted to love. There was more than met the eye," she said.
Her husband noticed the little boy, too.
"Frank is a special boy," he told her. "Did you know they're looking for foster parents for him?"
After consulting with their children, the couple made plans to take Frank home to Sault Ste. Marie.
"It wasn't smooth, but it was wonderful," Margaret says. "We saw him come alive. He felt loved and he responded."
He was "like a sponge, taking it all in."
George got a job with the Children's Aid Society while Margaret stayed home with Frank, who was still having multiple seizures every day. There were constant medical appointments. Frank attended nursery school, then a school for children with mental and physical challenges, and later a regular school where he was in a special unit.
"He developed really well," Margaret said. "We tried to make his life as normal as possible within the restrictions he had."
As long as Frank knew what was expected, the days went better. Changes threw him off, making him act out and angry. Anxiety continues to be a problem.
"Every six months, we'd sit down and say, 'What can we do to make things different? How can we make our family a better family, and have we changed our feelings about Frank?'"
They adopted Frank in 1976.
In 1987, the family moved to Kitchener to seek better resources. The couple's health was forcing them to think ahead. Margaret had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. George had heart problems, resulting in open heart surgery in 1992.
From ages 16 to 21, Frank thrived in a special program at what was then University Heights Secondary School in Waterloo.
"That was a little bit of heaven," Margaret said. "He had wonderful teachers."
Unfortunately, the structured programs ended after graduation, and Frank suffered from the lack, Margaret said.
The couple's health worsened. It broke Margaret's heart to admit she couldn't manage with Frank at home anymore.
In 1995, Frank found a place to live in a Christian Horizons group home, where he's aided by a valued full-time staff member. Frank volunteers; attends social programs; visits his mom.
Frank has good days, and not-so-good days when he's his own toughest critic. Today's humane society visit is a good day.
When her son reads his poem, Margaret is heartened.
"He's strong; he's funny; he's caring," she says. "He's still a wonderful, wonderful person."
***
My Love Legacy
By Frank Doherty
I wanted to marry Daisy
But she thought i was crazy
So I went to bed and cried
She told me she loved me
but she lied
So I called up my friend Mickey
Because the situation was so sticky
"Don't worry" he said, she's a duck
with her you'll have no luck
The next thing you knew
I caught Daisy with Pooh
And then I had no clue what to do
Then I kidnapped Mickey mouse
And locked him in my house
I went and bought Minnie a rose
She's lovely from head to her toes
She has cute lips
And skinney hips
So I asked if she would marry me
And the rest is history
dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/liveit/article/372703