The camper Raelene Johnson bought for $500 looks as ready as she is for Christmas with her son this year.
A garland of colored lights wanders around its single room — around the sofa bed, the white stacked washer and dryer, and the itty-bitty sink. Around the broken fridge and the mini-stove finally fixed after years of disrepair. A space heater glows orange near the center to keep the chill off.
All of this is more than enough for her to call home sweet home. To feel relaxed and ready to celebrate the God of Christmas with her whole heart at the B & B Trailer Court in Erie — a place where for six years she has rented a slot from Bill and Billie Smith; where she’s cherished a retired neighbor gal as the best friend she never had; and where she’s grown pink and red roses out the side door with some black-eyed Susans, mums and garlic thrown in for fun.
Weather permitting, Johnson, 62, likes to sit by this patch and reflect as the sun sets over the Rockies and a river of taillights and headlights flows past the northeast corner of Colo. 52 at County Line Road.
Life’s good.
But Johnson has waited 10 years for it to get better, waited for her children — especially her baby, Jamar Kennedy Washington Jr. — to come home for the holidays after losing her two girls and two boys decades ago to social services.
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