RealmCam Notes and LiveJournal

The Cast

Bankman

Bankie is a 30 year old fellow with Downs Syndrome. Unfortunately, this to the world is the defining statement...but it doesn't define the Bankman. Bankie does most of the things we all do, he can take good care of himself with some supervision. He loves movies, swimming, bowling, horseback riding, drawing, putt-putt, boy scouts and other activities. Bankie is, in his own way, our little Buddha, or perhaps he is more the Taoist master. Bank finds humor in everything, and is more concerned with everyone's happiness than with anything else. He reminds us to be happy, to live in the moment, to not lose our balance. I have used Bankiese for the kids names here. Bankie has his own language, he fully understands English, but speaks his own version where "dush" is the verb "to shower" and "motmon" is batman. Someday, perhaps, I'll compile a Bankiese Dictionary...it is a surprising dialect. (BTW the word dush does mean shower...in Russian!?) Franks latest accomplishment was receiving a gold medal in his division for skiing during the Regional Winter Special Olympics held in Boone this year!

Dee-Dee

Dee-Dee is our grand daughter. She is trouble on the half shell and is as stubborn as an old mule. When she isn't doing that though, she is very sweet and giggles alot. Dee-Dee likes socializing, swimming, skating, music (you know, the stuff with too much bass that makes parents irate).

Shannon

Shannon is 26 going on 40. She too might be defined by her handicap. Tish has Cerebral Palsy and is often seen driving around in her motorized wheelchair (when she isn't in front of the TV). Tish attended a regular school and did well. She made a splash in 1997 by appearing on Linda Ellerbee's Nick News special "What Are You Staring At?" with Ellerbee, Christopher Reeve and John Hawkenberry. The show came from a letter Shannon sent to Linda concerning the appearance or lack thereof of handicapped people on TV. They won an Emmy for the show and Shannon received an award for being a youth advocate for people with disabilities. The previous recipient of this award was James Brady. She went to NYC twice once in 1997 to tape the show and then in 2001 for the award. Since then Shannon dropped out to have a risky surgery that did not go as planned. She spent 8 months with a detatched femur and the doctors did not discover it until much time had passed. This was fixed but it looks like more surgery in the wings to rebuild her hips. She is currently in a nursing home, hoping this surgery will at least undo the ills the other surgery brought upon her. She remains an advocate for the folks in her nursing home and is persuing her GED. She likes watching TV, reading, playing video games, swimming, horseback riding, and as with all teenagers, aggrevating Dad. At present Tish is interested in either a career in journalism and photography, or a career in counseling.

Wolfie

Wolfie is an artist. She loves painting, crafts, gardening, refinishing furniture, graphic design, and music. Unfortunately monetary concerns (namely keeping us all in house and home) force her to work in a job that she feels doesn't highlight her strengths or interests. So nights and weekends we do projects, create art, play music together,etc. and during the weekdays we work at our respective duties elsewhere. Wolfie plays piano, violin and harmonica,and although she might disagree, I think she does all passably, and has the makings of a great harmonica player. Wolfie hopes to do more with her art when she retires (she has a degree in graphic art, and one in business administration), and hopes to get a BFA when she has the leisure to return to school.

Myth

Myth is a lucky fellow. Not only does he have all these wonderful and talented folk to associate with, a Taoist master and Gold Medalist, a TV star with aspirations to be a general, and an artist (as well as his love), and lots of great pets, but he has a cool job as a computer technician at a small university library. Luckily, Myth loves books, as well as fiddling around with computers. So by day Myth tinkers with computers, and by night he still messes with them, or plays guitar,works on the webpages, writes poetry and songs, constructs something, or mows the yard. Hobbies (other than those previously listed above) include herbal/organic gardening, WoW, backpacking/camping,and helping Wolfie with whatever she is doing:). Myth coaches Special Olympics Basketball, Softball and Golf skills and continues as Committee Chairman of our special Boy Scout Troop as well as being Scoutmaster for a new Venture crew for older special needs scouts. Myth has a BA in Russian Studies and English, a certificate for Russian Immersion School, 12 hours of graduate-level classes in English, 25 years of library experience and 11 years of IT experience.

Myth and Wolfie have 4 kids between them, 4 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren (another on the way).

The Beasten:

Jax: Border Collie/Husky? (Karillian Bear Dog :) 10 years old nicknames: Biting Dog, Licking Dog, Butthead, Trouble, fearless, The ultimate purveyor of dog goo. Main character traits: smart, and sweet, but very puppy! He is into everything at once, but is the best at returning when called and trying hard to oust Theo as Alpha male as well as sleeping dog. Jax is a fearless defender of his domain. He once faced down a grown pit bull and won. origin: I saw a picture of Jax on the internet and fell in love with his silly face. We adopted him from a Border Collie Rescue near Knoxville, TN

Misha: Lab/Border Collie nicknames: Mishi Misha was rescued from an animal shelter. She was overdue for euthenasia, in fact they thought they'd killed her already when Wolfie went to inquire about her.Turns out they were wrong. She was filthy, emaciated, infested with parasites,running a 105 degree fever and very sick. She had a litter of puppies at the pound. All died but one...the shelter folk said it was because she was so young. We think she was just too sick to feed them. A month later Misha was a healthy, happy, beautiful and grateful being. She has always remained grateful, cuddlesome and loving. Five years ago in October she was struck by a car and her right front paw was snapped in two. After an expensive operation and countless vet visits she is almost back to her pre accident state. She is the Bankman's constant companion.

Razzmellow: nicknames: Razz, Razzy, gtfo dog!! Razz was Sams dog, but he needed more care than she could give so we abducted him. Razz is a nearly pure white Husky mix with toasted ears. Of all the dogs he shows perhaps the least in human personality traits. He is quiet, gentle and playful. He is about 3 years old.

Naiou: a 5 year old kitty of ill repute. Cute, sweet, dangerous (I got the scars man!). Bankman named her (Bankiese for 'lion"). He was found wandering aroundalone in a pasture at about 4 weeks of age. We fed him by bottle and he's been a great cat as cats go.

Minnie: a 3 year old kitty that loves to follow her humans around inside and outside. She is a calico and very friendly, though she prefers to grace you with her presence rather than being picked up.

Biscuit: a 5 month old tuxedo colored kitty. Biscuit is the most cuddlesome of all the felines. He doesn't seem to mind being cradled or cuddled and is amazingly patient with his humans. He likes to attack your sock feet when you are in the kitchen. He is the most vertically oriented cat of the 3, prefering to get the birds eye view of things.

Our Dearly Departed Beasten

Keeper: Border Collie [Keepie passed away at the ripe old age of 17. She lost the ability to walk and after a few weeks we had to let her go. She died after a week of steak dinners, under an apple tree with all her human friends at her side.] nickname: Tepu (Bankiese), Miss Royal Paws, the Bad Dog, Therapy Dog. Main character traits: very smart, obedient and submissive inside the house; will ignore and shun all contact when not restrained outside and will refuse to come when called. Does not like to have paws touched. Very vocal, mindless barker outside, but coos and cries inside to be petted. She enjoys molesting large livestock, attacking small defenseless animals (puppies, cats), and wallowing in creek mud. Keeper thinks she is human (or better than human) and resents the presence of any animal other than the house dogs. She has 4 human pets, and is good at making them feel better when they are stressed-out. Likes to den up under our dresser at night. origin: rescued from pound 1996

Theo: Flathaired Retriever/Border Collie [The Doggie-Llama passed at the age of 12-13 from oral cancer.] nicknames: The Doggie Llama, the Great Houdini, Sleeping Dog main character traits: smart, very sweet, very good at returning when called, remains constantly underfoot or in the way of whatever it is that the nearest human is doing. Theo is the watchdog of the group, and the best of the bunch with whom to take a nap. origin: found as a puppy in a barn with his throat cut, nursed back to health and placed in the pound. Rescued by another couple who found him hard to contain in the city. We got him in January of 2000.

Mosey: a pretty little cat with some calico like markings. Mosey has yet to adapt to the family, but is coming along slowly. She deals well with the dogs and the other cat. She isn't quite sure about the humans yet. Toward the end, I caught her looking softly at me across the back of the couch as she perched on the other end of the sofa...as soon as she realized I was looking, she glared at me...lol. I wish we had more time with her, I think she was really coming around. [Mosey passed a few years back from allergic reaction to injection.]

Poe: 35 yr. old chestnut Quarterhorse mare. [Poe passed during a snowstorm in 2011 from a sudden heart attack.] nicknames: the 1000 lb. dog, the eating machine. Poe is a very sweet horse, though she doesn't much fancy being a beast of burden. She occasionally is pressed into service for kiddie rides, but is pretty much retired. I like to call her the 1000 lb. dog. origin: donated from a friend in Greensboro, NC in 1995

Suzi: mixed breed collie Ancient, probably knew Metheusela nicknames: old dog, Woosee (Bankiese). main character traits: We think Suzi was abused as a puppie, so she is very timid. She is also afflicted with cataracts and is mostly deaf. If dogs get alzheimer's Suzi probably has it. She really is dumber than dirt, but very sweet. Barks at anything that is assuredly non-threatening, but hides from anything that is. (So maybe she wasn't so dumb after all, lol) origin: rescued from pound in 1996 as she was the lifelong companion of a younger dog we wanted (Buckahey. deceased 1997 - run over by schoolbus). We took Suzi because we knew she'd never get adopted. [Suzi died of advanced age since this writing in Summer of 2000. She died quietly as she slept in the shade of the carport listening to Hiee play the guitar. We hope we made her last years nice.]

Katie: Golden Retriever and Tish's retired helping dog, between 14 and 15 years old nickname: Fat Dog, Helpless Dog, TeeTa (Bankiese) main character traits: permanent feeding frenzy (thus fat dog), terrified of thunder, very sweet. origin: donated trained in 1991. Tish was the youngest child to ever receive a training dog, as far as we know. [Katie had to be put to sleep at the age of 15. She had been in ill health since returning from Tish's mom's house with a series of health issues. She died quietly in my lap and was buried with honors under the ornamental plum trees in the front yard with Suzie [old age], Buckahey [run over by schoolbus],Huckleberry [hit and run], and the unnamed cat [injection site cancer]. We will miss our Katie. She was a kind and gentle soul.