AT HOPE & MAIN: DRUG PROGRAM NEEDS VOLUNTEERS

Volunteering, I think about the extra effort in that word, and sometimes just committing is the only way to do it.

Project Charlie is looking for volunteers to train for its drug abuse prevention program and implement that program in second- and fourth-grade classrooms.

The issue brings back memories of Josie, a woman who lived in my building. Josie had a problem with prescription drugs. She abused them.

Josie loved her birds. She had cockatoos mainly. There were other types, but the cockatoos were her favorites. When the nice weather came around, you'd find Josie sunbathing in the courtyard, a bird perched on her shoulder. She'd talk to him, call him pretty bird, scold him when he was bad.

The birds, as beautiful as they were, attracted all animal lovers, especially children. There were no pets allowed in the apartment, but you could get away with fish and birds.

We had some fish, so birds were an ultimate fascination to my daughter. When Josie wasn't outside, my daughter would often beg me to go visit her. She allowed my daughter to hold the birds, supervised of course, and soon she developed a real friendship with Josie's birds.

Spanky was Josie's favorite bird. One morning we were awakened at what seemed like the crack of dawn, by Josie, calling "Spa-nky" over and over and over again. Up and down the street she called for what seemed like hours. When I finally did go out, the neighborhood was abuzz with the news. Spanky had gotten away from Josie and flown away. We knew that she clipped his wings, but I guess they'd grown back.

This attachment to Josie and her birds was further cemented with a visit we actually made to her apartment. Josie showed us the floor to ceiling bird cage Michael, her construction worker boyfriend, had built in their apartment. She was quite proud of it. The couple lived in the apartment with the birds flying uncaged for most of the time. Now and again they needed caging. This cage was a generous size.

There were incidents that happened over the years with Josie that revealed her drug abuse problem. She was a sweet person and at numerous times she had sworn off drugs, but it never really worked.

I remember quite clearly, it was the beginning of fall, Michael had gone away and Josie was home alone. She was out in the courtyard quite often that week; as often as the weather permitted. We couldn't enter our apartment without passing her in the courtyard.

My daughter had just begun kindergarten that week and when she got home from school she'd want to visit with Josie, if she were out. I could handle a little bit of neighborly conversation, but I really didn't want to get involved. Sometimes I'd park in the opposite lot just to avoid seeing her. If Josie wasn't out, my daughter would begin whining to go over there and visit.

Each day when my kindergartner arrived home, it was a ritual to look at all the papers first. The color sheets explaining drugs and drug prevention annoyed me a little at first. Couldn't they wait a little while longer, I thought to myself. For Pete's sake, they were using Mother Goose to explain drugs!

My opinion was changed quite unexpectedly the very next day. My daughter and I walked up the sidewalk and spotted Josie in the courtyard. Something was wrong. I knew it immediately. There was no bird and Josie was flat out. She had the blanket wrapped around her, instead of lying on it.

We tried to converse with Josie, but to no avail. All her words mushed together, and it was hard for her to remain sitting up. She'd utter a few words and nod out. I knew that Michael was unable to reach, and I didn't even know any of her family member's last names. Josie could provide no information.

I did what I had to do. I called 911, and they came promptly. She had obviously overdosed, but by how much there was no way of telling.

I was angry at Josie. Angry for stealing my daughter's innocence away. It was just too early for her to be robbed of something that hardly lasted anyway.

Josie apologized to me and my daughter when we next saw her. She knew how I felt. I hope that Josie's overcome her addiction problem by now, but I doubt it.

I guess the educators know what they're doing. And their timing was right on the money. That commitment to become a volunteer is the least I can do.