Carol’s Home

Dear Melissa,
Every time I roll trough this house( several times a day) I am filled
with the uttermost( that sounds like I am a cow) appreciation for all
the hard work that went into it’s construction and design!
We have  enjoyed getting to know our house on an intimate level.
The shower is wonderful but cold these days. We need to get a small
space heater.( our shower area is not a ’small space’.
That area of the house is the most popular area  so far to be visited.
Who would have imagined that? Our bath room!
it is fun to hear the ewes and azs from every body. My sister,Laurie
was the first one to test out the tub. she loved it. James dove in
just this past week and said we can keep it awhile longer! I HOPE SO.
I have to get my turn!
chow are you liking this cold weather? IT SNOWED HERE yesterday! xdid
Alex see the snow flakes?f the ocean breeze might have been too strong
and wouldn’t allow  them to stick o the ground.  A February snow! and
a portage free home  all in the same year!
Who sayes mracles don’t happen? Give us Armstrong’s a call and we’ll
talk miracles alright  starting 6 years ago and continuing up 8.2009!
some were pretty big. It was fun to watch!
When I was growing up in central Georgia: e got more ice storms than
snow. I only remember it accumulating enough to build s snowman Only
once in my life time.I have a photo some where. One ice storm took out
the power lines and it took the power company tree weeks to restore
power. I guess there was no school?Must have been hard on my mother.
My brother and I fighting al the time because there was nothing to do
inside. I don’t really rember what we did but we survived and I was
probably glad to get back to school. this was back in 1971 or
1972;when school was fun for me.  I was learning, and making good
grades. Not to mention away from my brother.
Let me know when you want to come for a visit.
We planning a house warming party some time in February.
I am waiting on my cousin’s wife to get back with me on a date she and
her family can come. Debbie wants to help serve and prepare some food
too I  hope.   will let you know as soon as I do.  It will be a
Saturday early evening.
Thanks for every thing! Jamie really likes his bed! he has not
complained of restless nights in awhile.
Truthfully Jamie isn’t a complainer like his little brother.
Take it easy and stay warm  am sure Patrick won’t mind you getting a
little closer!
Sincerely,

Carol Armstrong and family

Today I am going to spend some time at a friends house instead of staying home. Last night our family got together and played games.

Dear family and friends,

Our Memorial Day started with the ability to sleep in and not be awaken by an alarm.

James had been thinking of some place to go most of the night. I think he awoke still thinking about a place we would all enjoy.

He got us all up and we had a light breakfast. Then we loaded up the car and we drove to Walmart. James asked before we left if  the throwing toys were available?

The foot ball has been unaccountable since Easter, Alexander’s soccer ball was the same.

So, it was no surprise James bought some new ‘toys’ for us to play with including myself: a soft football, really neat flying disk you throw: which was flexible not a hard Frisbee.

We headed down the interstate and I was curious since he stopped at Bojangles for our picnic food.

We took the exit at Sam Rittenburg Blvd.

I knew where we were heading.

James took us to Charles Town Landing. This is an historical site where the first settlement was built. James found the first picnic table with an umbrella: he didn’t want our food to get cold so we ate our chicken with the sound of birds chirping in the trees. It was rather  romantic: the cool breeze blowing, and the sounds of nature surrounding us.

We finished our good picnic lunch and cleared and cleaned up our table.We visited the animal forest and saw bison, elk, turkeys. We got personal with turkey buzzard, saw a pelican, blue heron and a white  heron.  First open area we came  in order to play James walked toward the pond and a small alligator slithered into the dark milky water. I quickly asked asked James where Alexander had wandered off to?

I have never been to a picnic area that supplied the picnicers with plastic bags to put your trash in. I thought that was rather nice.

With that we were off we were off to explore and take pictures. James did and I hope they turn out good. At one point along the trail James spotted a blackberry bush with ripe berries on it; WHAT A GREAT DESSERT.

James made that berry taste so good.We made our way back to the car: James had been pushing me for three hours. We were all getting thirsty.

James thought a Sonic drink was in order. So we left and in doing so meet some of our friends from church: We took pictures of one another. One friend I hadn’t seen in a long time. We found Sonic drive thru and enjoyed a much needed brain freeze.

James reminded us we had reservations at our friend’s house: Andrew Cooper was grilling for his family and friends which has always included us.

We arrive and he has the grill ready to grill hot dogs, chicken, pork, and steaks!

Cooper is a great cook and host!

We find out that today is his 30th birthday.it was great food and there were other friends there too.It was a very nice ending to a very nice day!

I believe we will always remember this Memorial Day.

Sunday April 27th will be our 17 year anniversary, the last 6 years have been hard but we have stayed together through it all.

Space needed
Brutal attack victim to be recipient of home
By David Berman
Summerville Journal Scene

Carol Armstrong is fully aware — to the point of frustration — that her current home has limitations.

“I know my failures here,” she says.

Growing up a tomboy in Georgia, Armstrong liked to climb trees. Today, she can’t even go outside to tend a garden or to watch her two sons play.

Like most women, she used to get ready in front of a vanity. Today, she brushes her teeth at the kitchen table.

When Armstrong’s children are under the weather, “I can’t get to them,” she says. “I can’t do the things a mom does when they’re sick.”

And cooking? “I don’t even think about cooking,” she says.

Bound to a wheelchair, Armstrong has great difficulty navigating through the home’s narrow doorways and hallways. She constantly looks to her family for assistance.

It’s obvious that Armstrong adores her husband — both who he was when she met him and who he has become in her time of need. She admires her sons Jaime, 15, and Alexander, 10, for what they have endured.

“When they help me out, they help their daddy,” she says. “I don’t know if they quite understand that yet.”

Armstrong, now in her 40s, says she is a simple person living a complex life.

Complexity took hold of Armstrong’s life nearly six years ago when she was left partially paralyzed and almost blind following a brutal attack outside a North Charleston medical building. She had just finished cleaning the building around 11 p.m. when a man robbed her, beat her — breaking nearly every bone in her head — and then fled in her car. She clung to life in a Charleston hospital as authorities launched a sweeping manhunt to find her attacker. They caught up with him three days later in North Carolina.

Today, Hugh Bolin III is serving a 20-year concurrent sentence for assault and battery with intent to kill and armed robbery at McCormick Correctional Institution.

Bolin’s living conditions aren’t likely to improve any time soon. The same can’t be said for Armstrong.

In just a few weeks, Armstrong and her family will break ground on a new home in the Hidden Hills subdivision. The project is being spearheaded by the Charleston Trident Home Builders Association and supported by a long list of local companies that have donated or pledged materials and labor.

When the homebuilders Executive Vice President Phillip Ford first learned of Armstrong’s plight and her living conditions two years ago after reading an article in a local newspaper he asked the association’s board to consider funding a renovation of the Armstrongs’ 1,186-square-foot home located off Ashley Phosphate Road.

“We looked at it and it was pretty obvious that there was really no way to effectively remodel it without taking it down,” Ford says.

So the plan shifted toward finding a vacant lot and building a home from scratch. But even that proved difficult as zoning obstacles and other challenges presented themselves.

James became discouraged. “There were things I was thinking I could do here,” he says.

Then last July, James found a lot off Central Avenue. The project was given a green light.

The proposed 2,449-square-foot home boasts wide hallways and doorways, sliding pocket doors, ramps, hardwood floors that will allow the wheelchair to glide freely, accessible backyard garden boxes, a roll-in shower, hydraulic closet shelves for easier access, and Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant appliances.

Site supervisor Jordy Tupper of G Tupper III construction, who is volunteering his time, says he’s honored to be involved.

“I love what I do anyway, but especially when I can help someone who needs it,” Tupper says.

The house is quickly becoming a reality to all those involved, except maybe Armstrong herself.

“I’m overwhelmed that this is actually taking place,” Armstrong says. “I say I won’t believe it until it’s up and I can roll through it.”

If Armstrong’s skeptical, it’s because she doesn’t feel entirely deserving. She’s more concerned with what the aftermath of the attack has done to James and her sons than what it has done to her. She harbors guilt for the fact that she has to rely on them so much.

James doesn’t deny that he will find relief from the new house. But he’s most excited by the prospect of his wife having a study where she can paint and connect with friends through e-mail and her living in a house where she can regain her independence.

Ford would like to see Armstrong regain something else.

“I’m hoping that Carol feels like a mother again and can do the things that make her feel like a mother,” he says.

Contact David Berman at 873-9424 ext. 214 or dberman@journalscene.com.

DONATE

The Charleston Trident Home Builders Association is seeking donations to help fund the “Carol’s Home” project. Visit www.charlestonhomebuilders.org/CarolsHome.htm or call (843) 572-1414 to learn more.

Dear family and friends,

I am sorry for not keeping you updated with all that goes on in our life. Today is February 10,2008 and today was an interesting day for me. I was interviewed by a local TV Station Channel 4. They are doing an ongoing story line about the ‘Carol’s home’ project that the Charleston Trident Home Builders Association is undertaking to build the Armstrong family a new handicap accessible home. The concept for this amazing project was the brainchild of Philip Ford; VP of The Charleston Trident Home Builders Association. This is better explained on the website www.charlestonhomebuilders.org (click House for Carol).

The goal is to hopefully break ground this spring! In the mean while I will keep busy doing the things I have been doing: I volunteer four days a week at Life Care of Charleston where I also take rehab. I visit with the residents and most of the time their family members too. I have made a lot of friends there I am thankful I have the gift of gab. I also volunteer at Windsor hill Elementary School as a mentor in the H.O.S.T.S program (Helping One Student to Succeed). Once I am finished with my three students I go and help out in Alexander’s 4th grade class. Where I help the students with vocabulary words. When class is over I have at l east 30 to 45 minutes left before James comes to pick me up. So, I go help out in the Media Center they don’t mind that I can’t shelve the books I sort I will some times put stickers on the flyers concerning the Book fair coming up. When they don’t have any thing for me they want me to just sit and talk with them. I feel so guilty for talking and laughing in the library. At 11:30 James picks me up and takes me home to eat lunch. I have a friend who lets me do data entry for her. She owns a gift shop downtown Sea and Shell. I use to work for her. By doing her data entry for her I get to chose merchandise as salary. I don’t mind the trade off. I can work home if I am sick or not at all. We save gas that way. I was going to be her customer Service Rep this past summer but it didn’t turn out like it was suppose to. This coming summer we will try again. I will follow up on shipping. Talking on the phone with a purpose.

The boys have been good. Jaime went on a 100-mile bike trek with his scout troop to NC. He really enjoyed it. He was missed that week! With that he made life Scout and can plan his Eagle project for the future. Alexander went to Cub Scout day camp for one week. He thought he was going to camp out for a week. No, it was held at the fair ground area. This allowed the scouts and leaders to be under a shelter out of the sun being it was summer. He enjoyed it The theme was medieval stuff. He likes that stuff: dragons and jousting. Mainly he liked the sword play. I did not get to help this year like I had in the past. There was too much dirt under the shelters were the boys had some of their activities. I didn’t mind at first. The heat was bad. I had data entry work to do. That was the summer.

This past Christmas was nice. Not too much. We spent our time here with James’ family since we spent Thanks giving with my family in Georgia. I love spending time with James’ family whether in Georgia or here in Charleston. They treat me like family. One day while we were at James’ sister’s (Cori) house for a post Christmas family party I was attempting to help with the dishes James’ brother in law told me I needed to go in the living room and socialize instead of doing dishes (any one that knows me understands how much I need to help in the kitchen). I was struggling with them a little because I was sitting in my wheel chair shoulder level with the sink. I told him I wanted to do the dishes to help Cori since she had so many of the family there. It gave the other ladies a chance to talk and hold Cori’s new baby, Miles. Then the thought occurred to me I need to be an example to my boys.

Struggle with one arm and wash dishes to help some one else: How much more can they do with two arms? I have the need to be useful. I can’t always do for my family at our house. I hope the new house will allow me to help more instead of me feeling I am in the way and being more of a hinderance than a help.

We hope the TV spot will help bring in more help to get our house started this spring. I am looking forward to being able to go outside and work in the yard! I was confined to the inside this past summer. I missed driving more this summer than any other time. Well, except being able to take the boys to scouts and such. I am very thankful to the Lord for friends and family, and church members for providing rides for the boys to activities.

James bless his heart can’t do it all. Even though he tries. He is an extraordinary man who happens to be my husband and the love of my life. I will promise to keep ya’ll updated on the progress of our new house.

Here is Jaime sporting his new hairdoo. He just wanted to try something different.

Saturday July 22;

James gets me ready to go outand he tells me it is a surprise. i am
always ready for a surprise from james. we enter the movie theater
parking lot, as we follow the curb; up ahead walking toward the
entrance Lynda Armstrong. i put the window down and yell at her.
“fancy meeting you here!”. We walk in togther. she walked as james
wheeled me in. We sat on like the fourth row from the front. Lynda
sat between james and i. which i did not mind at all. we saw my
superEX girlfriend. which was pg-13. but had i known the content, i
would not have seen it with her. in the embarrassing scenes, all
three of us laughed. that made me feel a little better. As we were
walking out we decided to go and get some dinner together. Linda
followed us to a fabulous place called: queen Ann’s Revenge. the
interior is made to look like a ship; with glass cases filled with
replicas of different pieces of weapons uded during the
“pirateeras”. the food is fresh and wouldn’t been served on a
pirateship. We had a wonderful time! Of course, I can not recall
ever having a bad time with Lynda. I am blessed to have such a
wonderful mother-in-law. She has helped us so much, these past four
years. I love her!

i