Tedda, I can't stop thinking about you. I read your article in yesterday's newspaper about your release in 1974 from the Michener Center Hospital. You have been unjustly imprisoned for almost 20 years. I worked at this hospital while you were there. I'm sorry, I don't remember you. There were so many patients at the time. Were you one of those silent people I often saw, leaning your forehead against a small window, planning your escape? the hospital. We couldn't even ask why. The words that seemed clear in your head became garbled as they left your mouth. You were sent to a hospital for the mentally retarded because you were born with cerebral palsy. You were 15 years old. We were both young women in our twenties when I started working at the hospital. I was fresh out of college, insufficiently armed with the stiff upper lip, politeness, and compassion ingrained in my family. You have already been a patient for 14 years. I find myself wandering these cursed lands again, this time in my mind, tracing your likely journey. This was common in most patients. Before you had time to unpack your bags, Dr. LeVann, the head of the hospital, sent you to have your appendix removed. You have been waiting for a sterilization for a long time. I worked at the teenage chalet, Linden House. I remember a pretty 17-year-old patient who often spoke to me about her plans to get married and have children. She didn't know she was sterilized at 14. I hid my tears when she showed me her appendix scar. Your parents came to see you once a week, on visiting day, for a few weeks. Every time you thought they were going to take you home. After a few minutes... middle of paper... scanned, without control, his gaunt face. To this day, I hear Dr. LeVann say, with disdain, “These patients are nothing more than morons. , imbeciles and idiots. I should remember that, I heard it several times a week for months. It was like a litany, drummed throughout his staff. Even though my university education supported his theories, I quickly learned differently. I felt that many patients were unfairly condemned to live in a world that treated them with obvious disgust and disdain simply because they could not communicate. I tried to speak, Tedda, to no avail. I left after only nine months. You remained trapped, each diet day slowly bleeding into the next, for another five years. Thanks to your article, Tedda, going back in time, I found hope, walking one step in front of me until he left the field. I thought I lost him forever.