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is posted on november 8 2024 by labelledave 20 by dave labelle most of my life i have been a teacher and a documentary photographer which means i photograph real people living real life i abhor ai and the artificial images created by it recently at my dear sister fayemarie s request i officiated funeral services for my brother in law jules david gosseaux in mcallen texas from the time i met jules after his stroke in 2003 i began documenting their relationship i asked jules several times if he felt comfortable with me photographing him and he always assured me it was fine and never asked me not to make pictures regardless of the environment david labelle 2024 a little background my sister and jules dated a year and planned to be married i fell in love with him and felt i couldn t live without him he treated me like a princess she told me fayemarie and jules in 2003 then jules suffered a devastating stroke that paralyzed his right side against the advice of many my sister went forward with the wedding because she loved the man and because she believed it was the right thing to do they were married one year later in jan 2004 the married couple 2004 fayemarie s 70th birthday party relationships can be complicated especially marriages where one is physically dependent on the other i have often thought about how difficult it must have been for jules a businessman who lived in the fast lane as if dependent on no one always controlling the stroke forced him to make some serious life adjustments he had to learn to depend on others especially his wife to change him shave him take him to the bathroom drive him and carry and push his wheelchair it must have tough d and i have often considered and admired what my sister endured for 21 years while both sacrificed in the marriage as it should be my sister a still young and attractive flight attendant who absolutely loved her job gave up flying and family in california because that is what jules insisted on though caring for her husband was a full time job even with the additional help of other caregivers they had an active life traveling the world often on cruises but eventually after years of lifting her husband my sister developed her own injuries back issues knee surgeries etc caregivers were needed more often through it all they managed because that is what love does tagged book review book reviews books fiction romance friendship a treasured gift posted on march 7 2024 by labelledave 2 by dave labelle while some people are blessed with friends they ve known since childhood others make new friends in the twilight of life such is the case for betty bessie helmrichs 101 and mercedes mickey schloss 99 residents of a long term care facility in manchester iowa following is an edited version of the story published in the manchester press recently left betty bessie helmrichs 101 and mercedes mickey schloss 99 arriving for breakfast good morning sunshine mickey offers her friend when 99 year old schloss left her home family and friends in strawberry point and moved into the good neighbor home in manchester in july 2023 it was an adjustment but shortly after the move she met another resident who would become a close friend beyond her wildest imagination she s the greatest mickey said i don t know what i would do without her i really don t mercedes mickey schloss 99 betty bessie helmrichs 101 bessie feels the same she just tells me i can t do without you but it is so comfortable in a facility to have a friend where we can go with each other and then discuss whatever we heard when we were at a meeting bessie said the friendship began when she sat at my table first opposite me she seemed to gravitate towards me i couldn t see her yet i have macular degeneration i can t see breakfast dinner and supper she s always at my table we solve all the world s problems the two soon realized they had a lot in common both had lost husbands both had children and both had a faith in god even though they worship differently and do not attend church services together we think a lot alike we re both unselfish we re not anxious we both like to please other people bessie said before continuing and that s when you re happier when you get away from thinking about me and think about christ she s catholic and that wouldn t bother me to go to the catholic i can go to any church and worship i go to stone church it s kind of a baptist church bessie said i raised my children lutheran but i don t belong to any church now i belong to the lord not the church i m not hugging my denomination i have a relationship with jesus christ in just over six months the two have become almost inseparable each morning after dressing in their own room mickey has bessie s old room in a different wing the pair meet at a nursing station and walk together to the dining area they sit side by side at the same table for every meal breakfast dinner and supper bessie gets her hair done before leaving to meet mickey to walk to breakfast mickey waiting for her friend with mickey in front the pair make their way to the dining room they used to walk together until bessie who loves to walk was sidelined with a health issue now mickey keeps up an indoor walking routine alone seven times back and forth down a long hallway it s bessie s count she said she teaches me so much and she is not afraid to tell me she tells me i am walking crooked walk straight she taught me my exercises therapy couldn t but she could she s the greatest mickey making her daily walk without her friend pushing her walker towards the dining room bessie in front of her friend mickey an aide teases trouble is right behind you there s trouble one and trouble two no she s wrong mickey laughs i m trouble and she s double trouble finally arriving at their table for breakfast schloss leans over to her friend good morning sunshine at the table where they met they now have assigned seats next to each other mickey insists her friendship with bessie means everything she is the nicest person in here they don t come nicer and i love her dearly she said i don t want to lose her ever i am 99 and she is 101 and what do you expect when death comes it comes and we re both ready what else can you do it s up to the lord friends standing the test of time posted on february 7 2024 by labelledave 8 by dave labelle friend it s a word we use loosely often too casually when referring to someone we know on facebook or see in person from time to time but know little about bob leigh 84 is nine months older than jerry pape 83 and the two have been friends most of their adult lives in fact leigh married pape s first cousin jerry pape left and bob leigh in texas we ve been helping each other ever since leigh assured for 30 years the leigh and pape families wintered together at the southern tip of texas in a town called harlingen about 30 miles from the gulf of mexico between mcallen and brownsville and not too far from the mexican border everything s a lot cheaper here pape said while sitting on the porch of a motel costing him less than 30 a night he added i also feel a lot better down here the cold is hard on my knees in past years the couples would go fishing golfing shopping dancing and visiting with other couples who came every year many from canada and dubuque county even after pape s wife ina passed in 2009 and then leigh s wife grace in 2019 the friends continued to make the winter pilgrimage you start to know people the same people come every year pape said there s a couple from canada in room 111 they come down every year but of the group we used to hang around with 14 of them have passed now that pape uses a cane he doesn t dance or golf anymore when he and leigh are not out sightseeing or shopping at flea markets garage sales or thrift stores pape s content to watch tv or sit in the sunshine in front of his room while leigh a prolific dancer is out dancing and listening to live music jerry loves sitting in the sun and already has the tan to prove it bob makes me dinner every day over at his place room 113 said pape causing a proud smile to stretch across leigh s face leigh s menu that evening offered two choices large shrimp i have some horseradish and ketchup or roast beef salad and dressing and red baked potatoes pape and leigh have wintered in the same location for the past six or seven years but unfortunately like the other two motels where they stayed in the past this one is sentenced to demolition the small restaurant where they share breakfast each morning will also soon disappear the traveling pair looking up a few details a few days before heading south in 2024 all will be gone next year and become a car wash pape said with both disappointment and surprise they got a car wash just down the street ever the planner leigh has already scouted and secured another motel for next winter which will cost 1 000 a month and the rooms have a kitchenette he beamed ever the server bob goes get jerry a beer before coming back to make dinner at the motel we re just a couple of old fogies having a lot of fun pape laughed during a recent conversation both realized they will be buried less than 150 feet apart in dyersville s st francis cemetery so just as they were in life they will still be close mr enthusiasm posted on december 27 2023 by labelledave 7 by dave labelle dyersville commercial call me jimmy g baby jim gaul belted while saluting with his left hand at every special olympics event there is usually one voice heard above the others a voice of heightened enthusiasm and unparalleled support that voice is often jim gaul i know you gaul says cocking his head squinting his eyes and pointing when he sees somebody he recognizes the second of 10 children born to jerry and joan gaul of farley gaul has a genetic disease called fragile x syndrome a leading cause of inherited disabilities like autism his brother dave also has the disease jim gaul 65 playfully warns one of the players to move back before he bats during a softball game dave labelle 2023 i first met gaul at a softball game in 2022 after traveling with him and other members of the progress special olympics team to several regional and state competitions gaul caught my attention because of his unabashed support of other athletes even those he was competing against he joyfully congratulated everybody on their effort win or lose even members of teams who finished ahead of him gaul is a true team player who supports all other athletes here he pats agnes wulfekhule as she moves towards the platform to receive a medal dave labelle 2023 gaul reassures special olympic teammate matt deutmeyer after he misses spare during a regional state qualifying bowling tournament in dubuque dave labelle 2023 after a teammate picked up a spare jim made sure everybody knew it 2023 dave labelle he is caring big hearted interested in everyone and jim gives 110 percent said laurie fallon one of gaul s seven younger sisters and special education teacher at western dubuque high school in iowa the past 20 years he loves sports he loves the hawkeyes he loves competing even though he cares about other people even those he is competing against he is competitive she assured at 65 he still competes in a variety of events including bowling and track and field gaul a competitive athlete concentrates during a regional qualifying bowling tournament gaul made the cut and competed in the state finals 2023 dave labelle in middle school everybody loved him fallon offered and when he attended western dubuque high school he was so enthusiastic and such a bobcat fan some teachers and staff got together and decided to create a spirit award for anyone who would exhibit bobcat spirit no incident better illustrates gaul s love of competing more than a story fallon shared about her big brother that occurred seven or eight years ago it was the first time i saw jim really down to the point of being worried about him fallen remembers he really didn t feel well and couldn t put words to it after gaul seemed to be getting worse fallon and older sister mary jo scott took their brother to the doctor where tests revealed he had a double hernia requiring surgery but it was just two weeks before state competition for track and field and gaul had qualified at the area competition even though he wasn t feeling good fallon said when he came to after the surgery jim said doc am i going to be able to run i really want to run the doctor who had gotten to know jim through special olympics said boy jimmy i just don t know you had some pretty big things going on in here that might be just a little too much jim started crying and said please doc i just want to run doc i just want to run give me a chance the doctor explained they would do a follow up in a week and he would decide then if gaul would be allowed to compete during the follow up fallon said the doctor looked him over and is internal stiches and asked him how he was feeling oh i feel great i feel great gaul assured can i run doc can i run i just want to run though he didn t finish first jim was a winner 2023 dave labelle at the time fallon was his special olympic coach as well as his sister and she promised the doctor she wouldn t allow her brother to do anything that he couldn t do and if he can walk this race just so he can be involved that would mean a lot to him the doctor said you re his coach you re his sister you know him pretty well he said jimmy i am going to give you the go ahead but if it hurts at all you can t run you ll have to take it easy ok doc ok i will i will i just want to run we get down there and jim is a little bit sore yet but he gets up to that line and he is ready to go i said jim if it hurts at all you got to stop running and you got to walk ok coach ok coach he calls me coach even though i am his sister he took off but he ran slow it was a 100 meters and he ran right past a couple of people and as he was running past them he put up his fingers like i am going to do it i am going to do it when he got to that finish line he was so excited i don t know what place he got but i know he got a medal that day fallon said she took a picture of her brother with his medal and sent it to his doctor on the back of the picture she wrote that jim wanted to let you know he ran his best race and he came back with a medal and he just appreciates all you did for him the doctor told her later that just made my whole career worth it though gaul is a playful kind of person and doesn t get stressed out about all the things they do fallon said her brother is also very observant sensitive and takes everything to heart if he knows that somebody else is worried about something jim will recognize that and in a way try to empathize with that person jim didn t know he had won another blue ribbon until the bus ride home after competing in the special olympics regional track and field events 2023 dave labelle jim can t contain his tears of joy after receiv...
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