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                             Mother Hale                                   [80C
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            Ŀ                 [80C
             Clare Hale passed away in December of 1992                  [80C
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   Many may mourn the passing of Clara Hale, better known as "Mother       [80C
   Hale" but I find it hard to mourn while celebrating what she stood      [80C
   for and her lifes accomplishments.                                      [80C
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   I had the pleasure of meeting Mother Hale many years ago before Hale    [80C
   House caught the eye of the public and was viewed as simply a place     [80C
   where "some little old lady was taking care of junkies children"!       [80C
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   I was throwing out some old children clothes and toys and someone       [80C
   approached me and said that I should be ashamed for throwing out        [80C
   this stuff and that I should donate it to Hale House, a few blocks      [80C
   down the street.  I should have thanked the woman for this              [80C
   information instead of feeling that she should mind her business.       [80C
   My heart was touched when viewing the struggle going on a few short     [80C
   blocks from where I lived.                                              [80C
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   Have you ever seen a baby going through withdrawal because of           [80C
   his/her mother/father's addiction!  It's a baby that screams and        [80C
   cries relentlessly.                                                     [80C
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   A friends daughters baby was born addicted and when she was at her      [80C
   wits end I told her to take a break and I'd take care of the baby.      [80C
   I did not know what I had volunteered to do! This tiny baby boy had     [80C
   a pitch in his voice to qualify him for any choir and it was            [80C
   constant.  I walked this baby around in circles in my apartment for     [80C
   hours and only sleeping when he feel asleep from exhaustion.  Being     [80C
   afraid to awaken him, when he feel asleep I would simply lay down       [80C
   with him on my chest and we'd both sleep until the next awakening.      [80C
   This went on for a while but each day got a little better.  I've        [80C
   helped and have taken care of many children but that was the closest    [80C
   I ever came to being a mother but I could not have been a Mother        [80C
   Hale.  It boggles my mind to even consider a setting with more than     [80C
   one child going through these changes but they didn't name her          [80C
   "Mother Hale" for no reason.  This term of endearment was truly         [80C
   earned.                                                                 [80C
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   We all joke about "it's a hard job but somebodies gotta do it" and      [80C
   Mother Hale, while you read this from above, I want you to know that    [80C
   someone had you in mind when they said, "may the work I've done,        [80C
   speak for me" because I want you to know, said in the words of an       [80C
   old gospel spiritual                                                    [80C
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                             "WELL DONE"!                                  [80C
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