Small World by Laura Zigman

Author:Laura Zigman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2022-11-09T00:00:00+00:00

Camp Fantastic

Louise hires students from area colleges to help with Eleanor—young people studying to become social workers and physical therapists, teachers and nurses. They come over in shifts, on mornings and afternoons, nights and weekends, to bathe and feed and change her. Louise is always there—she almost never goes out—so she, too, lifts and wipes and washes and brushes Eleanor. Sometimes we come home to Eleanor out of her chair or special scooter chair and on the living room carpet, doing a new kind of therapy—“patterning”—where Louise and an aide are moving her body slowly to stretch her tight ligaments and tendons, in the hope that, eventually, it will be able to mimic those movements on its own. Muscle memory. It doesn’t seem to work—nothing does, really, but Louise never gives up. There is always a new therapy, a new drug, a new theory being tested in other countries that she hears about. Help is always right around the corner.

“It’s so unfair that Eleanor has to live in a world that wasn’t built for her and that doesn’t want her,” she often says.

“Maybe we should stop trying to force a square peg into a round hole,” Lenny will say.

“Meaning what? That we should put her in an institution?” Louise’s voice rises, and her eyes widen in horror. “I’m not sending her away.”

“But that might be the best thing for her. And for everyone.”

“You want to warehouse Eleanor because it would make things easier for everyone?”

“Louise. We have two other children. They need our attention, too. What about Joyce’s stutter? And Lydia’s reading. What about them?”

The mention of the fact that you and Lydia exist—that you two also have needs—never fails to overwhelm her and send her into a panic that, once ignited, cannot be calmed by Lenny, who’s lit the match. It isn’t until you and Lydia are weeping and crying and the three of you are following her through the house, begging for forgiveness and pledging your undying support to the cause of keeping Eleanor at home no matter what, that she finally calms down.

WHEN YOU’RE SIX, LOUISE ANNOUNCES ONE EARLY JUNE EVENING over dinner that she’s found a special summer camp for Eleanor.

“It’s in the Berkshires. And it’s only for handicapped children.” She puts her napkin on her lap and looks around the table, gauging your collective level of enthusiasm. So far, it’s not yet matching hers. She tries again. “It’s called Camp Fantastic, and it looks amazing in the brochure. I mean, can you imagine?” Her eyes blink back tears. “A place for kids like Eleanor? Created and built only for them?”

Lenny puts his fork down. “Louise. Eleanor’s in a chair. She needs constant care. She’s going to sleep in a bunk and do arts and crafts?”

Louise pulls open the metal tab on a can of Fresca, pours it slowly into a tall glass filled with ice, then waits for the fizzing to stop before adding more. “It’s a special camp, Lenny. All the kids need that level of care.

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