‘Free at last’ marooned man enjoying Father’s Day

It is Father’s Day today, and for one man it will be the first Father’s Day in eight years that he will be able to leave his home. At age 89, Ralph Hall can barely see and has trouble walking, but lives alone at his eighth floor home in Almond Drive, Morvant. Because of Hall’s ill health, he cannot move around as freely as he wants and has been restricted to staying indoors. On Tuesday however, for the first time in these eight years, he stepped onto the ground floor of the nine storey apartment building with the help of a new elevator commissioned by Housing Minister Keith Rowley. “I was not feeling well that day,” Hall said, “but the whole idea of going downstairs made me happy. When I stepped out of the elevator, happiness filled my heart. I was not just happy for me but for the other people living here.”

Speaking to Sunday Newsday yesterday, Hall said that he has been living in the apartment since 1939, mere weeks after the building was constructed. At that time Morvant was not known for the crime it is faced with now, he added. “Almond Drive produced real good people like doctors and lawyers, you know, it is a nice area even though you hear about all the crime in Morvant,” he said. Before retiring, Hall was employed at several jobs including a railway garage, the US Embassy and as a carpenter, building cupboards for several companies. At that time, he said, the price of his room was nine dollars and “life was sweet”. Now the cost of renting has gone up to $100, which Hall finds hard to pay. “I am an old man and I only getting old age pension. It real hard to spend all that money when you only get a few hundred dollars a month, it really is,” he said. Although he has three children, only one will usually take time out to assist him.

“My son not living too far away, so he will come to help me with things like washing and making sure that the place is decent and to bring me lunch too,” he said. He explained that his neighbour brings him breakfast and dinner and ensures that he is comfortable. Although his eyesight is poor he tries to wash his clothes so that his son does not have much to do when he visits. One of Hall’s greatest wishes is that the children in the building take care of the elevator. This wish is being granted since National Housing Authority (NHA) on Tuesday gave out contracts to three men to take up the post of Elevator Operators. They will ensure that the children do not misuse the lift and that it lasts as long as it should. “I love living in this area despite all the bad reports you hear and I am glad for the help of the NHA, my family and neighbours,” Hall said.