This page is for Bill, my very special brother-in-law. Bill is developmentally handicapped, but very high-functioning. I hesitate to use Bill's name and the word "handicapped" in the same sentence, because Bill has never been one to let anything stand in his way. He is extremely outgoing and considers everyone he meets a potential friend. People respond easily to his warmth and sincerity, and he makes friends wherever he goes. He has a great sense of humor and loves it when his friends and family give him a hard time. He likes to banter back and forth and is amazingly quick on the uptake.

Bill grew up in Clinton, Iowa, where he lived with his mom until recently when it became necessary to move them both to Seattle to be with other family members. Bill now resides in a group home with three other men and several rotating live-in staff and counselors. After the move to Seattle, Bill became a member of PEOPLE FIRST, a national self-advocacy organization for people with developmental disabilities, and he has attended several of their conventions. He works full time at his brother's Greenwood True Value Hardware store and is handling his own money and finances for the first time. He is well-known in the Greenwood area, particularly at Herkimer's Coffee Shop, where the staff automatically hands him his daily "double-shot of fresh-ground espresso". He loves to swim and has competed in Special Olympics for many years, earning hundreds of gold medals in the backstroke and freestyle categories. He also walks several miles each day, climbing Seattle's hills with ease. Bill is fascinated by architecture and can easily identify all periods and styles. He loves shopping malls and is intrigued by the new "live where you work" communities which are becoming popular in the northwest. Bill's excellent sense of direction has helped him learn the bus routes needed to get around easily in Seattle, and he's become quite independent. We're very proud of him.

Bill enjoys traveling and has visited many exotic places, including Indonesia, where he was thrilled to discover an indoor swimming pool in a Jakarta shopping mall - two of his favorite things under one roof! He recently took a three-week cruise to Alaska and returned quite proud of the fact that he'd handled several days of rough seas with no adverse effects. He has a closet full of souvenir T-shirts from all the places he's visited.

Bill became interested in art and drawing several years ago during one of his annual visits with us. He prefers to work with colored pencils. When he's drawing, he concentrates intensely and doesn't like to talk to anyone until he's finished with his project. This is Bill's self-portrait. It's not surprising to see that his arms are open wide, ready for a hug.

WE LOVE YOU, BILL!
YOU GO, GUY!