My title is a quote from John Patric and I've been mulling it over lately. I believe strongly that our right to be different, to even be odd and eccentric, is a valuable right to be protected.

The artist Helmi Dagmar Juvonen (1903 - 1985) lived the last 25 years of her life in Elma, at the convalescent center Oakhurst. (Elma is in Grays Harbor county, not in Cowlitz as the HistoryLink Essay on her states.)

You can find an excellent book on her Helmi Dagmar Juvonen - Her Life and Work: A Chronicle by Ulrich Fritzsche MD through the Timberland Library. The author did an incredibly thorough, compassionate job of researching her life.

Many mysteries remain of Helmi's life. Why was she kept locked up for so long? Helmi was an impoverished, eccentric, creative, cat lady. If she lived now, with a small secure income, better health care, in a society that has improved protection for folks deemed mentally ill and "different", imagine what she could have created.