If there is one regret I have about my junior high and high school years, it's not befriending a kid who was ridiculed and avoided like the plague--who was never treated like a classmate. His father, who was kind of a crude and unkind man, told me years later that he kicked Gary out of the house as a young adult, and wrote him off. Still makes me ashamed and sad. Today, high school students at our local consolidated school invite the special needs kids to be their dates at prom, include them in group settings, and go out of their way to incorporate those kids into good high school experiences. We are evolving ; ]
Gary Duane Cooley was born on July 20, 1950 and died on August 27, 2003 at the age of 53. Gary last resided in New Virginia, Iowa in Warren County. Here is a link to his gravesite in case you would like to add virtual flowers or a note:
Mary Ford (Krier)
If there is one regret I have about my junior high and high school years, it's not befriending a kid who was ridiculed and avoided like the plague--who was never treated like a classmate. His father, who was kind of a crude and unkind man, told me years later that he kicked Gary out of the house as a young adult, and wrote him off. Still makes me ashamed and sad. Today, high school students at our local consolidated school invite the special needs kids to be their dates at prom, include them in group settings, and go out of their way to incorporate those kids into good high school experiences. We are evolving ; ]
Linda Pillow (Bilek)
Gary Duane Cooley was born on July 20, 1950 and died on August 27, 2003 at the age of 53. Gary last resided in New Virginia, Iowa in Warren County. Here is a link to his gravesite in case you would like to add virtual flowers or a note:
www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=17292185