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This past semester on any given Monday at 6 p.m., Eric Spatt could be found at the Hillcroft Services doing research for a class project.
The research for this particular project — his poetry series for English 409: Creative Writing in the Community — involved discovering acoustic gospel and other greats while strumming along with group home resident Robert Lee.
"Can I call you Rob? Does anyone call you Rob? I hope you don't mind if I do," Spatt began as he read aloud to Lee during one of their final meetings.
After Spatt finished reading, he looked up for Lee's approval.
"Did you like the poem?" Spatt, a senior creative writing major, asked, clutching the papers that contained the words he crafted to summarize the man he bonded with as part of the project.
"Oh, it was OK, I guess," Robert — not Rob, as he's quick to point out — Lee shrugs in response, then flashes one of his token grins, deepening the aged crevices on his face.
Spatt laughs as he reaches for his guitar to begin the duo's weekly gospel improv session.
"Everyone's a critic," he said with a sigh. "Well, what did you want to play today?"
From the scattering of hand-written labeled cassettes on his dresser, Lee reaches for one by Buck Trent, one of his favorites.
Spatt visited Lee weekly at a group home facilitated by staff from Hillcroft Services on Gilbert Street in Muncie as part of the class taught by English professor Barbara Bogue.
Speech impairment and verbally understanding their partners are the primary obstacles for students writing about clients at Hillcroft, Bogue said. House managers are there to interpret, but after a few visits, Bogue said students begin to understand and bond.
Spatt and Lee didn't spend a lot of time talking about family and friends. Rather, it was the experience of just being there and doing what each loved that brought them together.
"We hit it off right at the beginning, joking, laughing, but I didn't know what I was getting myself into," Spatt said. "Rob is much older than I am and he's had this whole long life, and I'm barely even starting my own."
Lee, 71, has been at Hillcroft the longest — more than 30 years. He works during the day rolling hoses. During the evening, he spends his time listening to gospel radio programs and watching John Wayne westerns.
What struck Spatt most about Lee was his smile and extroverted personality, he said.
"It makes me feel good when I've got a smile on my face instead of frowning," Lee said. "I'd rather have a happy face."
Each location involved in the project — Big Brothers Big Sisters of Delaware County, Motivate Our Minds, Hillcroft Services and Heritage Retirement Village — exists as its own entity, and each student experience is different, so no two stories are ever the same, Bogue said.
All of the residents at Hillcroft are mentally alert and articulate, allowing for the students and community members to build relationships, she said.
"Highlighting particular individuals who are Hillcroft clients and their stories educates the public even more about the myths and misconceptions that exist for people with disabilities," Bogue said. "But the point is residents know someone is there to visit with them and that someone cares about them and wants to hear what they have to say."
Prior to the course, Spatt had limited experience writing nonfiction narrative stories.
"As a writer, you can almost always hide behind that veil of being a writer. But working with Rob, you have to lift it and know there are real people out there that you need to work with that can help you and teach you things," Spatt said. "And Rob was that."
Spatt said without realizing it, Lee helped him develop as a writer and an individual.
"He helped me think about my writing not so much as ‘What do I want on the page? What are all the things I want to incorporate?' as much as ‘How am I capturing this person?' and ‘Am I doing it honestly?'" Spatt said.
Spatt wrote the poem, "Can I Call You Rob?" as a symbol of their time together and to explain that point of light-hearted contention between the pair — Lee's first name.
"He is Rob. He works with his hands, he loves God. He's all these things a hard-working man is. And I think Rob fits him just perfect," Spatt said. "But he likes Robert. He let me know that."
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