About book That Went Well: Adventures In Caring For My Sister (2009)
We have a lot of mentally challenged (is that the current pc term?) patrons who come into the library and I think about how difficult it must be to be their parent or sibling. This book does a great job of showing how terribly challinging it is as well as how rewarding. Ms. Dougan clearly adores her sister, despite the frequent frustration she feels with trying to balance her desire to care for and protect Irene with Irene's desire and need for independence. Quick read, with good insight. I also was interested to read about how Robert Redford wasn't really into the idea of starting a film festival (but have no idea why that was included in the book, unless the author just wanted us to know how many stars she's met). A very nice read that takes place in Salt Lake City--the Avenues to be precise--from the fifties to the present. It traces the history of our care for the mentally retarded to mentally challenged to special needs citizens through the story of Terrell and her sister Irene. I enjoyed the local history and politics. I remember going down to American Fork and playing on the wonderful playground that sucked all the money for special education community programs. I remember when the Columbus Center began. Good grief I'm old! I remember seeing Joanie Vollmer, that mysterious retarded girl down the street, once a year at Halloween when we went to her house. Now we have those people out in the community (and in my classroom) as part of our community. Isn't it awful how it used to be, and isn't it wonderful that we are slowly changing and becoming better.
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I did not find this writing to be very engaging. Ended up just skimming to get to the end.
—maha
