A Couch, A Hospice Bed and Graduation Day
On the day of Zakry Flint's high school graduation, the couch from his living room is next to the curb, waiting to be picked up with the trash. The sofa with the green and pink flowers was moved out of the family's small living room to make room for a hospital bed. Hospice brought his dad, Jason, home from the hospital that day so he could be comfortable at home with his family.
After a month of ICU and a ventilator for an anoxic brain injury, Jason was quiet and unmoving in the bed next to the window, where the couch used to be.
As Zakry dressed, in black pants, a white shirt and uncomfortable new dress shoes that he does not want to wear all day, a nurse talked with his mom, Tiffany, about feeding Jason and what to do with the tubes. The hospice social worker, who said she found fulfillment in helping families through difficult times like this, said Jason could be like this for days, weeks, months or years.
Tiffany wears a shirt that reads, “Thankful, Grateful, and Blessed.” She shows us a "God is For Us" sign painted by her Secret Sister at church. The verse is from Romans 8:21, Tiffany's favorite verse.
Tiffany began to lose her vision four years ago, soon after she turned 30. She has Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy and anything beyond two feet is blurry.
Zakry's grandmother is there, too. She grew up in Panama, had two "bad husbands," and worked two jobs to support three kids on her own. She would get home late from the second job, kiss her kids as they were going to sleep, then get up early the next morning and do it all over again.
"I had to work two jobs to pay the bills. I hoped the kids were okay."
His grandmother opens the door because she loves the smell of rain. "That couch is getting wet," she says.
Zakry checks his blood sugar. Diabetic since he was 11, he pricks himself seven times a day.
"I get headaches if my blood sugar gets too low or high," he says. "I hate needles, but now I have to stick myself all the time to survive."
He started losing his vision in 6th grade. "I thought there was just blind and not blind. I didn't know anything about visually impaired."
His vision hit 20/600 but has improved as his optic nerve healed. The doctors were hesitant to call it a miracle, but Tiffany says Zakry's vision improved soon after his youth pastor prayed for him.
Zakry was a reader. He sometimes got in trouble for staying up too late with books, not video games. The Warrior series about five clans of cats were his favorite books. He misses reading and struggled in literature class because of eye fatigue. Staring at books for a long time is a strain on his eyes.
"History is my favorite subject now because it is easy to remember."
He carries a class ring in a pouch in his pocket and is proud to be graduating with a regular diploma from Mary G Montgomery High School.
"All of my middle school teachers told me I would have to get a special diploma," he says. "I wanted to prove them wrong."
His high school teachers have supported him, buying his graduation clothes and paying for graduation invitations. Amy Arnold Hess met Zakry through The Regional School for the Deaf and Blind that serves all public schools in Mobile county that have students with a sensory impairment. She helps him get services he needs, such as MAPS brokered transportation service for people with disabilities.
Carrying his cap and gown, Zakry walks past the couch and boards the MAPS bus that takes him to the Mitchell Center at the University of South Alabama. MAPS is his only way to get around since his dad got sick and his mom can no longer see well enough to drive. MAPS takes him door-to-door almost anywhere he needs to go. $3 one way. $6 round trip. That day the bus was driven by Whitney, who is also a part of the music duo 2 Major Twinz.
On the bus, Zakry talks about dreams of wanting to be a vet or a youth pastor.
"I love animals, but after I lost my vision I didn't feel comfortable being a vet," he says. "I don't want to accidentally hurt someone's pet. As I youth pastor, I can help kids through their struggles since I have been through some of my own."
Zakry is going to take college courses online and help take care of his dad.
"I don't know what will happen to my dad," he says. "If he goes, it was his time. If he doesn't, we will have to wait and help him get back to normal."
Normal is getting his dad back. The man who worked for a landscaping company, fixed things around the house and drove his family where they needed to go.
Normal is having a couch where a hospital bed used to be.
