Optimae Stories | Michael
Watch Michael’s story: https://youtu.be/XsYEIpTYrt8
In his home and along the road to better mental health, Michael Alloway has cleared a path.
When Michael and his mother moved to Wapello after nearby Oakville flooded in 2008, they accumulated a lot — so much so, that their personal belongings were taking over their home.
“We had lots of Christmas stuff,” Michael says. “Mom loved Christmas. If we went to a yard sale and there was something Christmas, she got it; she didn’t care.”
While the holiday memories were positive, the hoarding was not. Michael decided to make a change. He and his mother started upstairs, getting things cleaned up in a room that had become a catch-all.
“When [my DSP] Kim came in, she can verify it — there was enough room to walk right in between,” Michael says.
During this period, Michael’s mother fell into ill health.
“She was not doing well at the time,” Michael says. “She was having a hard time remembering things; she was having problems remembering. She’d start making something, and forget, so she decided, she was done.”
According to Michael, after his mother had a hospital stay due to dehydration and other complications, she was never the same.
Michael (right) found his way through a difficult time with the assistance of Kim, a direct support professional with Optimae LifeServices.
Following his mother’s death earlier this year, Michael entered a dark place. But with the help of his DSP, he found the way through to the other side.
He started a garden, planting melons, sunflowers and tomatoes. Michael says he doesn’t like tomatoes, but his mother did — and this year, it was a bumper crop. Thinking of the irony makes Alloway chuckle.
The garden tomatoes are one of the ways Michael senses his mother’s presence. He believes there are many others, and doesn’t feel nearly as alone as he once did.
He still keeps his mementos, just not as many. Items special to his mother have a special place now, and images special to Michael — like the wolf faces along the walls and on the upper floor’s bedspread — reflect his own inner courage.
While Michael has learned a number of lessons from his recent experiences, he believes people must forge their own path. To that end, he only has one piece of advice.
“Do what makes you happy,” he says.