In all of her 49 years, Andrea has never been able to verbalize her thoughts but there are many. Here are some that were put into a booklet for her nephews and nieces to better understand the roads in life that they will be traveling.

1. An Outing with Aunt Andrea
Ont heRoadLess TraveledDrawing by Andrea
Andrea’s drawingof
apat ht hrought he
woods looks liket he
roadless t raveled
t hat is describedin
apoemwhichwas
writ t enbyt he
Vermont poet ,
Robert Frost

2. • The first printing of this picture story was in 2002, when Andrea’s oldest niece was 13 and
her youngest nephew was a new born. The purpose at time was to show the children that
even though Aunt Andrea couldn’t express herself with words, she had thoughts and ideas
that were worth sharing. The road that she was traveling in life was different then theirs but
that she was making the best of the journey.
Now, five years later, the oldest niece has just graduated from high school and the
youngest nephew will be starting school in the fall. They are both starting out on roads that
have been traveled by others in the family but will be confronted with choices that may take
them onto divergent roads.
Hopefully, this booklet will show them that it isn’t necessarily the road itself, but rather how
you travel it that counts.
Brandon Vermont 2007

3. Having choices and The Road Not Taken
TheVermont poet Robert Frost is
famous for manypoems about living
int hecount ry. Thesepoems have
manymeanings andideas t hat are
import ant for underst anding
ourselves andeachot her. Int his
caset hepoemis about howwe
handlet hemanychoices t hat we
faceinlife.

4. The Road Not Taken and the Robert Frost Trail- Ripton, Vt.
Wit hout havingachoice,
Andreahas beenforcedont oa
roadless t raveled. Shehas
madet hebest of her journey
andsheis anexamplefor t he
rest of us t omaket hebest of
our ownjourneyinLife.

5. Andrea’s Road Not Taken
If shehadachoiceearlyinlife,shewouldprobablyhavepickedt heroad
t hat wouldhaveallowedher alifet hat t herest of us t akefor grant ed.

6. On the Road Less, Traveled Andrea has had to accept
a helping hand from many different people
At t imes t hough,it
seems t hat Andreais
leadingus onour pat h
of life.

7. and, like the rest of us, she enjoys being Needed.
Andreausuallyasks t o
carryt heknapsack. Of
courseit usually
cont ains t hesnacks and
lunchbut more
import ant ly,sheis
makingacont ribut iont o
t heday’s act ivit ies.

8. As well as being accepted
“MomandIhave
chosent hesame
colors. Theysay
t hat t hehat makes
t heperson. InDad’s
case,let ’s hopet his
isn’t t hecase!”

9. and respecting each other’s opinions
“Yaknowmom,I
hear what youare
sayingbut Iwonder
wheret hat ot her
t railgoes?”

10. While maintaining honesty
“Hey,Ireallysawalit t leperson
under t hat mushroom!”

11. And being brave
“Whoa! It hinkt hat is a
bear over t hereint he
bushes makingallt hat
noise!”

12. But also having a little fun with a joke
“Yousawwhat ?AShark? NoI
don’t t hinkt hereareany
sharks int his smallst ream.”

13. as well as accepting each other’s mistakes
“Ugh! It hinkyouforgot t oput some
sugar int his lemonade!”

14. and finally, being thankful and happy
nomat t er what roadwet akeinlife. For
Andrea,happiness is comingfromt heroad
less t raveledout int ot hecommunit yand
beingablet ot ravelont heroadt hat most
peopleareablet ot ake, enjoyingeach
ot her’s companyandbeingablet owalkwit h
t herest of t heworld.

15. Our own road
Just as Aunt Andreahas shown,it doesn’t reallymat t er what roadwechoose,as
longas weholdourselves t ot hebasicprinciples of accept ingresponsibilit ies,having
respect for ourselves andot hers andbeinghonest wit hour t hought s andideas.
A silent Voicepublicat ion-
Aug.02
Aunt Andreais oneof many silent voices int heworld. Ot hers
aret hehomeless,t hepolit ically disenfranchised andt he
vict ims of violence. InAndrea’s case,shedoesn’t havet hegift
of speechbut becausemany peoplehavehelpedher,sheis able
t oenjoymanyof life’s pleasures. Oneis beingablet oexpress
t helovet hat shefeels for eachoneof her nieces and nephews.
Her gent let oucht oeachnewbornis her st at ement . Asecond
pleasurefor her is beingablet oexpress her feelings wit hher
drawings. This is her way of sharingher senseof beaut y,color
andbalance. Just as wit ht heot her silent voices int heworld,
wehavet olearnt olist ent owhat t heyhavet osay. Then,
t hoseof us wit hvoices,will beablet obringhappiness t o
ot hers.