Portland Observer May 21, 1981 Page 7 When love moves mountains By Kathryn Hall Bogle How to learn, earn, and indulge in pursuits that meant enjoying life and yet give Keary what he needed became of paramount consideration for '.he Johnsons. Rose Marie,beyond perform ing her role as a housewife and mother, yearned to use her tra in in g and background as a pianist She also harbored an a m b itio n to teach school someday. E arl, the father and essential breadwinner fo r his fa m ily, loved the out o f doors and active sports. To hike and to camp were E a rl’ s fa vo rite ways to spend holidays from his work as a Portland police­ man. Both husband and wife enjoyed an active church life. Rather than to be engulfed by anguish and inac­ tio n , the Johnsons agreed to set their sights on attainm ent and ac­ complishment. The family began to camp in the many beautiful spots o f Oregon and Idaho. They back-packed with Earl carrying Keary in a special pack on his own back - once for 20 miles to a campsite in the Wallowa mountains and out again on the return trip. On these trips Keary has learned as well as Keith, what it means to be trapped inside a tent while the rain pours down in buckets outside. They know the th rill ol a tug on a fishing line cast in a m ountain stream and they have felt the nip of frost bite in a mountain camp in the m iddle o f August. They have sat KEITH AND KEARY JOHNSON together in a rubber float happily bouncing on the icy waters o f Lake Okanagan in B ritish C olum bia. work at M onm outh was a nightly Keary’ s wheelchair went along with him on a trip the fa m ily took routine a fte r M rs. Johnson’ s through the Canadian Rockies. daytime duties as a teacher. Later Mrs. Johnson transferred to Lewis Both boys have ridden horseback and Clark college. w ith Keary held in the saddle in fro n t o f his dad, and they have Odd moments were used for study. “ I studied while I ironed,” traveled by train to visit paternal Mrs. Johnson said. “ I had notes grandparents in Pittsburgh. Each summer for 20 years since they were and books everywhere - in my five years o ld , the boys have purse, on the TV, at lunchtime, cer­ enrolled at the Lakeside camp o f the tainly on weekends and even at the Easter Seal Summer Camp in hospital when my husband became Oregon. ill. I received my masters degree in education from Lewis and Clark in 1979. As a teenager Keith was graduated from Clackamas high school and later attended a local college, and kept being best friends with Keary. Keith taught Keary how to play Scrabble and how to get sound out o f a guitar. The brothers developed their own private “ in ” jokes that only they could ap­ preciate. Keith is now 6’ tall, weighs 170 lbs - a size to match his father and, like his father, Keith enjoys active sports - especially cross country run­ ning. During E arl’ s recuperation from periocarditis, he enrolled at P ort­ EARL ft ROSE MARIE JOHNSON land C om m unity College as a nursing student. He successfully As the boys grew older Rose completed his courses, passed the Marie grew anxious to complete her state board exam ination fo r his studies for a college degree in Music profession. He is now a graduate and Education. Earl worked nights R.N., but he has rejoined the Port­ to leave his days free to care for land Police Department as a Keary and the extended fam ily p it­ sergeant since his health has retur­ ched in for unscheduled hours when ned. they might help. Frankly, this is a story about love in one man’ s fam ily. It is also a story o f the determ ination and im agination o f a special pair o f young parents who took charge of their lives and molded them into the shape they wanted. It all blossomed with the birth of two infants, the couple’s twin boys, 25 years ago. The twins, Ketih and Keary, were born to Rose Marie and Earl John­ son who anticipated the birth with happiness and high expectations. The babies were carried to full term and all seemed well. At the hospital Keith came first, healthy and strong and demanding. Six minutes later his brother Keary was born, small and frail and need­ ing the benign enclosure o f an in ­ cubator after his traumatic breech birth. In due time Keary was released from the hospital nursery to join his eager parents at home. “ Earl and I were anxious to have both our boys w ith us at hom e,’ ’ related Mrs. Johnson as she thought of the early weeks at home with the twins. “ Their father was a big help right from the s ta rt,” she said. " E a r l would bathe the babies, change diapers or feed them - whatever was needed. "W e watched them grow and develop, but we saw that Keith was strong and able to lift his head and turn over long before Keary could manage. It was weeks before the pediatrician w ould confirm my suspicions about Keary’s muscular development. Finally we were told the diagnosis. Keary, they said, was a cerebral palsy patient. “ Our baby would never be able to sit up alone, would never run and play w ith his brother, and, quite possibly, would never have normal speech. He would always need specialized care just to live, they told us. “ Counsellors suggested, after a while, that we look for a place for Keary to live apart from the family. We took a look at some o f the places available twenty years ago for a child with Cerebral Palsy, and we shrank from making a choice. “ We knew that we could give our child much more than any o f these places could o ffe r. We were his family and if his life were to be d if­ ficult, we wanted to fortify him with our love. “ A social worker asked us if we had thought o f Keith. We had. We were Keith’s parents, too. We want­ ed, with all our hearts, to give both our children a happy normal child­ hood.” C ontinuing her account, Mrs. Johnson said, “ We enrolled Keary in a recommended program at Crip­ pled C hildrens’ D ivision up on Marquam H ill, and decided to settle in at making ourselves into a real fam ily - working together for the best benefit for each o f us.” P eriodically the young couple looked at the reality o f the fam ily situation adding the assessment o f their own personal hopes fo r the Applying herself. Rose Marie was future. In their m id-twenties, the twins graduated by P ortland State U n­ At age four, Keary could neither have decided to leave the fa m ily iversity in 1969. Im m ediately she walk nor sit up w ithout propping. nest. Keith is working as a machine began teaching school at Forest He could not feed himself and had operator at a manufacturing plant H ills elementary school in Lake to have small quantities o f food fed and he has found an apartment near Oswego. Currently she is rounding to him by spoon six times a day. his work to his liking. out her I Ith year there. Sight in one eye was seriously affec­ Keary? A ll the fam ily approved Keary grew to understand the ted. Speech remained beyond o f his selection o f a group home that valuable use o f books. Keith read to Keary’ s a bility and he could make will provide permanent care for him him daily and together they visited him self understood only by ap­ in case his parents cannot be the public libraries. Keary learned to proximate sounds. available to m aintain the level o f use a pointer strapped to his hand to On the plus side Keary showed a indicate his needs and his prefe­ care Keary will require the rest o f his high quotient o f intelligence and his life. rences by pointing to pictures on a big ready smile showed his joy in Keary’ s new living quarters, at an small chart constructed for this pur­ participating in life around him. In­ Oregon beach resort, allow him to pose. stant communication came through live in an environment he loves and Rose M arie could count o n ' the program provides skilled his eyes or a shake o f his head.' Keary’ s cooperation when next she medical and nursing care. There is Keith, the balance wheel, led the decided to work toward a masters norm al life of a happy four-year freedom to visit in P ortland w ith degree. He sat p a tiently in his old. With parental encouragement, family and friends and they in turn wheelchair beside his mother in the Keith brought much o f his world to may visit Keary as often as they like. college classrooms when " th e y ” his brother. Soon, o f course, Keith W ith his new friends Keary has went to Oregon College o f already made a plane trip to Disney­ would enter school where Keary Education in M onm outh. Class land. could not go. City youth jobs available Portland M ayor Frank Ivancie has announced the creation o f a summer youth clean up program operated by the City o f Portland in cooperation w ith the Portland Public Schools. Mayor Ivancie first suggested the program in early A p ril. It is designed to hire 500 high school students, age 14 or older, for up to two weeks each to help clean up Portland neighborhoods. On the C ity level, the program w ill be supervised by the D epart­ ment o f Public W orks, under Com m issioner M ike Lindberg, Portland Public Schools announced the creation o f this program and the application procedure to its high school students last week. “ This program w ill help our un­ employed young people and Port­ landers all across the city ,” Mayor Ivancie said. “ It shows how d if ­ ferent government can work together to m aintain P o rtla n d ’ s livability.” Work begins on June 15th and the program will run for ten weeks. Workers will be paid $3.50 an hour. 'Established 1966 with over 170 offices coast to coast." NURSES For home health care, private duty and hospital staffing •RNs «Home Health •LPNs «Aidas •Nurses Aldas «Live-in •Companions M edical Personnel Poole JAhour service • 7 days a weak PH: 234-0968 FOR RENT Office space available in North Portland, 3924 N. Williams, newly remodeled. Contact: YOURSEF MANSOUR 249 2997 The highest waterfell in the world is the Angel waterfell in Venezuela, mas suring 3 ,2 8 1 fe e t high. Shrimp Meat » .,„, Lake Trout . $5“ $028 ............ .. IH.Tsk $ 1 I 8 8 Potato Salad Fillet of Snapper . . sr Chuck Steak Boneless U.S.D.A. Choice Beef lb. Sliced Bacon K s258 78‘ ’ 1“ ............ Mr. Turkey Franks Ball Park Franks Ground Beef FRESH! Truly fortified with the love o f a close knit fam ily since their birth, the twins are free to develop their own potential as they see fit. And, as with any other parents, the doors o f the Johnson home are always open for their children. Love can move mountains. One man’s family believes this. lb. 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