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14 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday June 13, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Living Oakville Beaver LIVING EDITOR: ANGELA BLACKBURN Phone: 905-845-3824, ext. 248 Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: angela@oakvillebeaver.com · WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2007 The end of an era Welcome home, Donna LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER NEW START: Community Living Oakville's new member, Donna Macleod, is back home in Oakville and near her mom, Betty, after spending many decades in an institution. By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF appy. It's a new word for Donna Lynn Macleod whose vocabulary of Mommy, Daddy, car, cookie, cake and a few other words has grown in recent months. Her mom, Betty Macleod is pleased at her daughter's progress -- though admittedly it's bittersweet now that Donna is 47 and Betty is in her 80s. Donna returned home to Oakville last fall after living since she was 12 years old in Orillia at the Huronia institution for the intellectually dis- H abled. She was separated from the rest of the world and she had done nothing wrong. Donna now lives in a group home setting back in Oakville where she shares a house with several others and is supported by Community Living Oakville. "I just wish her dad were alive to see it," said Betty, 84. It has been a long road for the retired university professor and the daughter she gave birth to so many years ago. It was more than 30 years ago that both mother and daughter were forced to accept a lifestyle neither wanted when faced with the fact that "It has closed an era in Ontario's history. It has been a huge learning curve and, unfortunately, one learned through people's lives." Jody Blaauw, Community Living Oakville there just wasn't any other alternative. Jody Blaauw, Community Living Oakville's community resource manager, is convinced the Macleods' story is becoming more of a good news story every day and that good will be gained from their experience, particularly by others. Blaauw is the first to admit however that it's sad to have to learn from the lives of others. In fact, it's Donna's return home that is signalling what Blaauw calls "the end of an era" and the end to the distasteful option that the Macleods' faced more than three decades ago -- institutionalization of the intellectually disabled. "It has closed an era in Ontario's history. It has been a huge learning curve and, unfortunately, one learned through people's lives," said Blaauw. Now, as the Province moves toward integration rather than institutionalization of people who have done nothing wrong, Blaauw said residents like Donna are regaining the rights they have under Canada's Charter of Rights. They have personal freedom and the right to their own possessions. At Huronia, Blaauw said, a pair of underwear has initials on it. Donna is enjoying her new freedoms and Macleod is happy to finally have her daughter closer to home. She received her first Mother's Day gift this year. It's a long way from the situation they faced years ago. Macleod, she relates, and her husband, Bruce, had Donna later in life. Donna was eating well, sleeping See They page 19 Metroland Coming June 2007 Request a free copy email: info@live-it.ca editorial highlights: · Are you fit for golf? Tips to get in shape for the game · Get growing organically this summer · Ban the tan: health experts advise · What's all the fuss about trans fats? · Plus summer salsa and berry healthy delights Live It! Canada's Health and Wellness Magazine Free Retro Cap with a Jays Gift Card Purchase For a complete listing of retailers visit bluejays.com/giftcards · www.live-it.ca Complete offer details at bluejays.com/giftcards. Offer expires June 30, 2007. While quantities last. TMTrademark of Rogers Blue Jays Baseball Partnership ©2007