New Tasks & Cemeteries
Busy! I began my paralegal practicum the first week of January and the attorneys have kept me busy. I love what I’m doing and so far, they've liked my work. I’ve written briefs on a couple of human resources legal issues, answered a letter concerning a possible patient of forty years ago, and most recently, a certification issue. I’m following that issue up with more research into licensing, certification and hearings and appeals processes.
It’s challenging and I’m learning a lot, but there’s also a lot more to learn. I’m a little overwhelmed by the reading as I try to get through the applicable statutes and rules that apply to our agency. It’s easier when I’m looking for the answer to a question, but just wading through them – well – they won’t keep me awake at night, for sure!
It’s good to see that all the research and writing I’ve had to do in my classes is really paying off. And I’ve had to rely on information I leaned in nearly all my classes, so far. So, my education hasn’t been wasted so far.
One main project I’m working on is the ‘cemetery project’. It’s been passed from one attorney to two law clerks and an intern and now it’s on my desk. We have until April 2008 to finish it. It requires us to collect all the identifying information our agency has on all persons buried in cemeteries on the grounds of our hospitals. Three facilities are completed, one is nearly complete, and there is one more that we don’t know the progress on yet. While there is still work to be done most of it is done!
Some of the stones are so old that you can’t see the markings on them. A lot of them have no names or dates, only a number and so we have to rely on paper records which are not always available or accurate. A lot of people have worked on getting the information together and I’m coming in on the tail end, but I’ll be glad to get it completed and put to rest.
When I look at the numbers and names on the lists and plot maps, I wonder if anyone attended a service for the person being buried. Why didn’t they put names on the stones instead of just numbers? How many people mourned their loss? It gives insight into how the perspectives have changed concerning mentally ill people and institutionalizing them. Of course, Ohio has led the nation in de-institutionalization, but when you go back through the history that is involved in the cemeteries, it seems very sad to me that people were put into hospitals and in some cases, forgotten, even in their deaths. How did the people feel who cut the stones and buried the people? Did anyone ever question or feel remorse that the person lying beneath the earth would only be seen as a number to anyone walking through that cemetery? How sad.
All the more reason to remember today, we need to receive mercy from each other and we need to give it to each other.
It’s challenging and I’m learning a lot, but there’s also a lot more to learn. I’m a little overwhelmed by the reading as I try to get through the applicable statutes and rules that apply to our agency. It’s easier when I’m looking for the answer to a question, but just wading through them – well – they won’t keep me awake at night, for sure!
It’s good to see that all the research and writing I’ve had to do in my classes is really paying off. And I’ve had to rely on information I leaned in nearly all my classes, so far. So, my education hasn’t been wasted so far.
One main project I’m working on is the ‘cemetery project’. It’s been passed from one attorney to two law clerks and an intern and now it’s on my desk. We have until April 2008 to finish it. It requires us to collect all the identifying information our agency has on all persons buried in cemeteries on the grounds of our hospitals. Three facilities are completed, one is nearly complete, and there is one more that we don’t know the progress on yet. While there is still work to be done most of it is done!
Some of the stones are so old that you can’t see the markings on them. A lot of them have no names or dates, only a number and so we have to rely on paper records which are not always available or accurate. A lot of people have worked on getting the information together and I’m coming in on the tail end, but I’ll be glad to get it completed and put to rest.
When I look at the numbers and names on the lists and plot maps, I wonder if anyone attended a service for the person being buried. Why didn’t they put names on the stones instead of just numbers? How many people mourned their loss? It gives insight into how the perspectives have changed concerning mentally ill people and institutionalizing them. Of course, Ohio has led the nation in de-institutionalization, but when you go back through the history that is involved in the cemeteries, it seems very sad to me that people were put into hospitals and in some cases, forgotten, even in their deaths. How did the people feel who cut the stones and buried the people? Did anyone ever question or feel remorse that the person lying beneath the earth would only be seen as a number to anyone walking through that cemetery? How sad.
All the more reason to remember today, we need to receive mercy from each other and we need to give it to each other.
posted by Deborah at 6:11 AM
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