Best Friends Forever: Even the Nursing Home Years

Charles Anderson and Lori Shook. Recorded for StoryCorps in February 2014.

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A brief synopsis of the StoryCorps story:

Charles Anderson and Lori Shook have known each other for their whole lives. The two grew up together in Minnesota and when Charles moved to Atlanta, Lori eventually came to Atlanta as well. 

At one point, Charles was in the ICU. He spent several weeks in a hospital, and was then sent to a nursing home for three and a half years. For Charles, the worst part about the nursing home was the total lack of freedom. "I couldn't go anywhere," he remembers. "It was all enclosed."

Finally, the Atlanta Legal Aid Society  assisted Charles in leaving the nursing home. He was informed of the Olmstead decision and how it can affect the lives of so many other people with disabilities, and he is proud to be part of it.

Produced by Talley Wells with interviews recorded by StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to provide Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share, and preserve the stories of our lives. www.storycorps.org