Posted by Terri Chidgey on 9/12/2019 9:30:00 AM
One of my Roosevelt alumni friends is living in a facility called The Abode. It was recently featured on NPR and is a National Non-Profit living facility. This particular one is a house in the MacArthur attendance area. The Abode takes in dying people who are alone with no family or finances. Jack Hall is that person. He has stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer. Some of my Roosevelt friends along with my husband and myself, have reconnected with him and take him to lunch, check on him, etc. At one of our lunches, he mentioned that he had heard that Roosevelt had really changed and he would love to see it. We planned a “field trip” on our next luncheon to our old houses and his former schools. He attended Wilshire, Krueger and Roosevelt.
Jack, our mutual friend Sandy and I set off on our trip. When we got to Roosevelt, they could not believe the transformation from our previous “prison looking” school to the beautiful building it is today. Jack was so caught up in the change, he wondered if there was any way we could go in. It seemed odd and HOT, but off we went. I warned that we probably could only get as far as the front office, but both friends were eager to go in. We were prepared to leave after checking in at the front office when I bumped into Thomas Brooks, one of the assistant principals. He was cheerful, warm and best of all, after hearing why we were there, insisted on taking us to see the auditorium and trophy case where Jack was sure he could find one of his pictures (he did not). Mr. Brooks was patient and informative and honestly made an enormous impact on both of my friends. Mr. Brooks took time out of his busy day and made a huge difference in a dying man’s life.
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