Not
just any paint could be used for Shirley Pleasant’s Hamilton Park
home. She and her late husband, Clabon E. Pleasant, Sr., chose the colorful
combo of sea breeze and white years ago to bring a touch of brightness to their
neighborhood. And she wanted to keep it that way. During her husband's illness -- he battled Alzheimer's
disease and cancer — she had focused solely on caring for him and
keeping their home's interior comfortable. She hadn’t worked on exterior
maintenance, she said.
"When you have
a person in your home that's been sick for a while -- any length of time like
he was with that Alzheimer’s -- you let things go,” she said. "You
just let it go."
After her husband's passing in 2013, Mrs. Pleasant wanted to paint the house, but the project
required oil-based paint and would be costly. On top of that, house painting was
unfamiliar territory. Her husband, a World War II veteran who served in
the U.S. Army and earned four Bronze Stars, a Purple Heart and three
overseas bars for tours in Normandy, Northern France, Central Europe, and
Rhineland, had diligently maintained their home. "He always
took care of everything so immaculately,” she said. "I really didn't
know anything about painting.”
Through the
collaboration between caring Hamilton Park neighborhood leaders and Dallas
Leadership Foundation, volunteers gave her home a fresh coat of paint during
the Transform Dallas workday. To show her appreciation, she served
volunteers pizza and put out lawn chairs where they could take breaks. She said
she was also impressed by the young people who pitched in to paint.
"My prayer has
been: God just help me get through everything I need to get
through,” Mrs. Pleasant said. While she’s continuing to
adjust to living without her husband, she's grateful for the sea
breeze-and-white paint that preserves a priceless family memory.
To learn more about Dallas Leadership Foundation and its community partnerships, or to contribute, visit dlftx.org.
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