Thanks, fellows. I thought it was quite ironic that Michael, who most people would think
would always be dependent on other people, became 'independently wealthy" after he chipped in
some of his inheritance to help Bob get his Red Hat computer software company off the ground.
as Bob, the Caretaker, himself says
“It was actually hugely rewarding, personally,? “Because my parents had worried about Michael
all their lives, worried about what would happen to him after they’re no longer able to help.
And, suddenly, he was worth as much as my father had managed to accumulate over a 40-year career.
“So my father goes from having to worry about Michael to becoming Michael’s money manager.
It was very cute. And my father, who has a great sense of humour, found this as amusing as anyone else.?
Michael quit his job in inventory management, where he was one of the company’s most popular employees.
His learning disability was no match for his sense of independence,
and he worked and drove and fished whenever he liked.
“That’s what was remarkable about Mike, because you probably would have met him
and not even known,? his cousin Bill said. “He was a remarkable story."
Someone else’s persona would have probably shown tons of signs of dependence
and needed some form of formal care, but not Mike. He was more independent than any of us.?
P.S.
I taught Developmentally Challenged 14 to 21 year olds.
One evening back then, we Special Ed teachers put on a graduation dinner/dance
for our “developmentally challenged” students with about eighty guests attending,
many of them had not had experience with “developmentally challenged” people.
One guest was so impressed with how “normal” they were after talking to them that he remarked
with tongue in cheek 'they are only developmentally challenged when they want to be."
He was so impressed with how much more natural they were in having a good time,
looser and much less inhibited than most of us are at dinner/dances we have been to.
