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One weeknight, I was in the gardening section at a nearby
home improvement store when I asked Carla Parr for an inter
view. Well, actually I asked her husband, who had sort of wan
dered off while Carta was asking questions about the plants. He
directed me to her.
Carla worked as a special education teacher until she was
diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. We talked about her love
of children and teaching, as weU. as her adjustment to a new
lifestyle.
flagpole: How long have you tived in Athens?
Carte Purr: Since 1988.1 came down here from Indiana,
FP: That's quite a move. What brought you hem?
CP: 3obs, There were no jobs in Indiana..
FP: What job did you end up getting down hem?
CP: I worked in Athens Regional emergency room as a tech
when I first was here, for three-and-a-half years. And then I
' J?,.; -y
had my own child care [center] for three or four years. And
then I wanted to get into the school system, and I had to
start off as a substitute teacher working in the lunchroom.
From there, I went back to school and finished my bachelor's
degree in education, for middle grades. And then, a year after
I started teaching, I went back again for my master^ in special
education. I got a job teaching special ed kids, and I wanted
to stay in that position. In order to do that I had to get certi
fied in it.
FP: Are you currently teaching special ed?
CP: No, no. As you can see, I'm disabled. [Carla is sitting in
a motorized chair.]
FP: So, do you still work some or are you on disability?
CP: I'm on disability. Mainly, all I can do is things around
the house... I have rheumatoid arthritis and I'm on a medicine,
or was on it until I got sick, but I've been on medicine that
blocks the immune system, keeps it from working, because
that's what attacks the joints in rheumatoid arthritis. And on
that medicine, I ended up sick; I was catching every infection
that came through the school. I stayed sick all year that last
year I taught. So, I had to quit and stay home and stay away
from the germs as much as possible.
FP: When did you find out that you had rheumatoid arthritis?
CP: In January 2006... I didn't know how long I was going
to be able tc work. That frustrated me, because I didn't know ,
what I was going to be able to do financially if I wasn't able
to work. But it worked out weU with the school system, being
retired on disability... I also had long-term insurance and '
short-term insurance for disabilities, and then Social Security.
I went through those steps also. So, I went two years without
income [laughs], but I had insurance through the school sys
tem and a little bit of a pension...
• FP: That sounds like such a process. What was that tike? £
CP: It was awful It only took a few months to get my
retirement but it took two years to get Social Security. I got
denied twice before we finally had to just go to court for a
hearing.
FP: Ybu said you worked at Athens Regional as a tech. What r
did you do them? '•'/*- *" fe’.-* ,;vi: v'V&^jP
; CP: I did everything but give medicines or start IVs. And to
me, it was very stressful esperiatty with the kids. Because, you
know, I love kids, and there were times when kids were brought
in after being abused at home.
FP: Was that common?
CP: It just happened every so often; it wasn't that com
mon. But, you know, when they bring in kids that had to havO
stitches or things like that, it just
bothered me.
FP: And you substitute taught
right after that?
CP: Not right after. I ended up
staying home and doing child care
at home... I took care of six chil
dren at one time. They were mostly
toddlers; there was an infant, and
then another child that was almost
preschool age.
FP: What made you decide to do
that?
CP: I love kids., And I had two
small children at the same time. .
That would allow me to stay home
and make money at the same time.
FP: So, you have two kids? y
CP: [My husband and I] have
five together. Yeah, the other three
were in school... My husband had
two children and I had two chil
dren and then we had one together.
FP: Do they still live in Athens?
CP: Yes. All of us live in Jackson County, but our address is
still an Athens address. So, we're just a couple of miles over
the Jackson County line.
FP: What do you think keeps everyone here?
CP: The fact that there's so much to do... We can just come
into town and find anything that we need. And you're right in
the middle of a lot of other things: attractions. There's Stone •
Mountain and the mountains up north, North Georgia. •
FP: Do you often go up to the mountains?
CP: Well, we did, until my RA kept me from riding the bike.
FP: So, you mountain hiked?
CP: Yeah, we rode motorcycles..
FP: Oh, motorcycle
CP: Motorcycle, [laughs]
FP: Ah, *the bike." So, you were a biker. What brought you
into that?
CP: My husband. He had a bike when he was younger and,
since our kids were growing up and mostly moved out, he ‘
decided it was a good time to start it back up. So, we bought a
motorcycle and started going up to the mountains to ride, and
going to festivals up there and going up into North Carolina—
the western North Carolina area. It's beautiful up there. But
last year, it got to be too painful for me to ride with the RA...
Yeah. We're gonna get a Jeep—so we can take the top off
[laughs].
Melissa Herates
iORGlA Theatre
• • ■ • -
■ % ' • V 7 ‘ ’ •**-•«**•* »*'*** * » * * P •• r ■'
vyww.georgiatheatre.com
:15 North Lumpkin St. Athens, GA
THURSDAY. APRIL 26
MINNESOTA YfY^I
S ADVENTURE CLUB i -1
.. •• AViDO . I * I
FRIDAY, APRIL 27 '
^ H BIT BRIGADE
> CHERUB .
AFTERPARTY ON THE ROOF
SATURDAY, APRIL 28
GROOVE
DOORS 9:00pm * SHOW 10.00pm
MONDAY, APRIL 30
AMP k GATH PRESENT A READING DAY PARTY:
PAPER DIAMOND
~ with CRY WOLF 5nd TRIZ ^
OOORS 9:00pm • SHOW 10:00pm \
TUESDAY, MAY 1
THE GET UP GET DOWN
$2 B00FT0P DANCE PARTY feuumnc
REPTAR DJ SET
& EYES LIPS EYES
THURSDAY, MAY 3
ROOFTOP WNGC 106.IFM WELCOMES
HAPPYHouB STEVE EARLE
..™“ ! . w/ THE DUKE < AND ^CHESSES)
NOAH I featuring ALLISON MOORE
MOSS 5:00pm AND THE MASTERSONS
DC0RS 5:00pm
SHOW 6:00pm
DOORS 8:00pm • SHOW 9:00pm
SATURDAY, MAY 5
WNGC I06.1FM WELCOMES
NIEMANN
»/ JOHN KING BAND
DOORS 8:00pm.* SHOW 9:00pm
APRIL 25,2012 -nAGPOLE.COM 39