Waterboy

Our waterboy died last week. When we went to grade school at Edgington, a one-room school, Donny Neuhaus carried our water. He lived with his parents and brother, Larry, on a farm right next to the school. Every morning and every noon he would carry a bucket of water from their farm to the school. He was handicapped. I never knew just what exactly the problem was. He couldn't talk, only grunted, but he could laugh and understood when someone was teasing him. When he brought the water at noon, he would stay and play whatever game we were playing. All the kids knew to take it easy on him and not get to the hide-and-seek base before he did. He did not stand straight upright when he walked, but did not seem to hurt anywhere. I don't know if he ever went to school. Back then handicapped kids didn't have the same chances that they do now. I think he spent the last few years in the care center. He was 72.
Sue