For Kyle, a long response.  Sorry, but I don’t have time to follow this group as
closely as
some of you apparently do.

We lived in Riverton in ‘76 & ‘77.  I loved it!  Eastern Wyoming is nothing but
sagebrush and antelope but the western half is beautiful country.  I’m a history
buff of
sorts and Wyoming is rich in history.  A part of me will always belong in
Wyoming.
Living there was like living in another world in countless ways, both good and
bad.

We moved to Wyoming, kicking and screaming all the way.  Wyoming was a dirty
word
to us.  (Once when returning from visiting friends in northern Utah we got
caught in a
nasty blizzard on Interstate 80 in a white Corvair.  Pretty scary!)  My husband
was
designing subdivisions.  His employer had folded and the only job he could find
was in
Riverton.  Colorado was in a real slump at the time but parts of Wyoming were
booming.

I’m a non-driver by choice.  We always thought if we lived in a small town I
would drive.
Forget that!  Riverton had a dozen drive through liquor stores.  There was a
severe
alcohol problem, on and off the Wind River Reservation.  Plus, the cowboys would
come
into town and drive like they were still on the back 40.  I settled for a second
hand adult
tricycle.  Our sons had just gotten their first bikes.  We explored every inch
of Riverton
on our bikes.

On a whim, I attended a town meeting about handicapped individuals.  No one was
more
surprised than me when I emerged the local expert on curb cuts.  My husband has
a
significant hearing loss.  I had worked for Voc. Rehab B.C. (before children) so
I knew a
little bit about a lot of disabilities.  I ended up representing Riverton at the
state
conference and was part of the Wyoming delegation to the House Conference on
Handicapped Individuals.  Several local professionals became my mentors and
helped me
prepare for that conference.  That would never happen here!  I got quite an
education.  At
that time, Wyoming was far ahead of Colorado on disability issues.  With fewer
people,
each person seemed to be more important.  I have since lost touch with my
mentors.

Hubby missed Colorado and we all missed family so we moved back.  Six months
after
we left, Riverton was almost a ghost town.  We always felt the good Lord moved
us to
Wyoming and back again.  I had previously tried to do volunteer work with the
disabled
but no one would give me the time of day.  Being a part of the White House
Conference
opened all sorts of doors for me when I got back to Colorado.  I was very active
in the
Disability Movement for a few years.  Got burnt out and took a paying job as a
special
ed. paraprofessional.

Now that I’m retired I could easily keep super busy as a volunteer.  But my
interest is
adults with CP who live independently.  If there is anything for us in Colorado
I haven’t
found it yet.  And believe me, I have looked and looked and looked some more.

Kyle E. Cleveland wrote:

> Thanks!  Yeah, the old man's still "Semper Fi" and he mustered out as a
> light bird in '69!
>
> Ohio has several programs for disabled sportsman/woman.  They've really
> gotten on the bandwagon.  Too bad the rest of the state gov't hasn't
> followed suit.
>
> So, how was Wyoming?  Man, I'd love to live there, but my neighbor says it's
> the most beautiful place he ever starved (no jobs).  Laura (my wife) and I
> have a little postage-stamp plot just east of DuBois near Torrey Canyon.
> It's really just big enough to pitch a tent on--no well, electricity or good
> access.  You have to go in by fire-road, so we've never been there in
> winter.
> In what part of the state did you reside?
>
> -Kyle