77 Comments Posted by Pookie,Former Patient

I live in Waltham and I was also a patient at Gaebler, I go by it all the time,, it was not a fun place to be at or anything that helped heal us children, we were mentally and physically abused and treated like we were nothing, so getting out of there was the best thing for everyone who has ever been a patient there, and now that they are at some point going to take the building down, can only now help us heal. I believe that are going to be putting up condo's or townhouse or both, that is what Waltham does when they tear down a mental institition, they did it to a cronically ill and mentally ill place like 30 seconds up the hill, I forget the name of it, but, that is now all townhouses. But, I don't know if us patients/kids will ever be able to have complete clousure even thou the building will be torn down, but,as usual Waltham is taking thier time. I hope that your stay there was better than mine....

Shawn,
hello, I don't know it's being torn down, I live in Waltham so I am forever checking on it, I will let you know, I will email you on your facebook and you can email at anytime ....

Dennis,
The next time I go., I will call you and we can meet......

Dennis,
Yes the best friends I have ever had were in there, I do have one bestfriend since 3rd grade that was never there but, she stood by me in time of need and til this day we are best friends. I feel sad, mad and angry when I go there, and yes, I would feel better if that building gets taken down asap. I do still keep in contact with Danny, but, he had a really bad time there and he doesn't ever want to to back there, I just saw him on Tues 6/15. I did go into my bedroom when I was there and all the other rooms and all the wards and school rooms, it was scary, there was even a dead bird hanging by a noose in the activity room, friggin scary.. My mother is the one that called the state on me and gsve me up to them because she felt I was out of control and couldn't be a human being in society. when I confronted her she denied it then I got my papers from there and sure enough she did do it to me and I threw them at her and she couldn't say crap to me, it was a long time before I could forgive her, I am married with 2 girls and the best thing that I could have ever done was show her and everyone else that they didn't break me and that I am not a bad kid. Now my mother and I are the best of friends . I just hate that place, bad memories of being locked up, but, I am doing so much better now that I have been back there a few times in the past couple monthis, I am just trying to gt closure/.... I think it would be great to get a bunch of us to go up there together and get closure and talk about the crap we had to endure as children and yes that is all we were was children......

Boiler 1220,
I can't believe they are finally going to take down the building, I was just there and I didn't see any signs except no tresspassing, even thou I did it anyways. I swear to god when I went in there the 1st time a couple months ago my husband and I could hear voices of children screaming and banging on the windows, it was very erie... Shame on the world for locking us up and not giving us the chance to have a childhood....I honestly believes what goes around comes around and I pray that the staff members Jack,Harvery,Joanna and Melodee get what they have coming, they were not nice to us children on Ward D at all, they treated us like we were criminals and slaves and the degraded us all the time....I pray for any children that they might of had...

John,
I am sorry you don't have the means to get here,, because I totally agree with you , that a documentary should be done before the building gets torn down, I think the public needs to know what the hell went on in there and the abuse that we all suffered and maybe this would help others parents in aiding thier children now to not end up in places like this. We were kids, we weren't criminals, we were just kids and it breaks my hear t that we all had to endure this kind of treatment. But, I did meet the best of friends there, and I have never had any friends like the ones I had when I was there. I do keep in touch with a few of them and they are doing well in thier lives. The reason why places like this exist in this world is because there are adults who control kids minds and make them feel like they are all mentally screwed up & that we were a menance to sociiety and that we needed to be out of the public. I was told that I was not mentally stable to be out in the real world, that I had a personality disorder & had an out of control behavior. I skipped school for 4 days with a friend of mine and the next thing I know, I am locked up here. MY mother actually is the one who called DSS on me who called the courts and signed me away and awarded the state custody of me from the time I was 11 til I was 15yrs old. After I left there I had to go to a school for all girls in Arlington,Mass, it was runned by Nuns and there were a few regular staff members at the school, but, we lived in dorms and I had so much freedom and I didn't know what to do with it so I stayed in my room a lot cause that is what I was used to. I was finally able to go home but, the scars of Gaebler and St Germaine School still haunts me til this day. This society should be ashamed of themselves for what they did to us kids,...I will never get over what happened to me and what I witnessed being in Gaebler, but, I am grateful for one thing, the friends I made, they were the best...

Boiler 1220,
I just wanted to let you know that I drive by there all the time, I still live in Waltham..I was a couple months ago tooks,acutally went inside and OMG it's a friggin mess, the place is trashed, there is graffiti everywhere, and broken windows, and glass all over the floors, the toilets and sinks are ripped out and it's just horrible, there are rooms that I never knew existed the doors were always locked except for where us kids were allowed to go...I posted the pictures on my facebook cause I can't figure out how to get them on here,. Add me as a friend and you can see them, it's Michelle Woods-Godfroy...I am so glad that you are doing well in your life....

John,
hello, I have a really hard time myself trusting people, cause of what I went through as a child so I know ow you feel. You don't ever forget being in a place like this and the pain of it follows us for life. I took some pictures a couple months ago when I went there but, for some reason I can't seem to post them on here, so I am going to post them on my facebook. You look me up and add me as a friend if you have a facebook it's Michelle Woods-Godfroy...

To John,
Hello, when were you there? I was there 1982-19836, the ist room on the right is a boys room, and you are so right about the gym, and the tv room on Ward D. OMG!! I had the best time in that tv room with my boyfriend, we had the other kids on the ward look out for staff members so we could make out, it wasn't that often that they had the staff door open to the tv room so we lucked out. We used to play dodge ball a lot in the gym on our floor and just before we left we actually had a dance in the gym, I did meet the best friends there, meaning the kids,. I hope you are doing well......

To John,
Yes you were Kim C's boyfriend, she was my roomate and she was awesome, she carried around the Moody Blues Album cause she was so crazy about Justin.

Was There,
Hello, sorry it took me so long to get back to you. NO you canbasically contact any DSS office, but, it would be best if you contact the one that you were dealing with at the time of your stay there, also just to let you know, if u attened public scools at all after you left there then they will have a copy of your records from Gaebler as well. SInce the place has been closed, you will probably have a hard time getting them, but, it's the law and they have to give them to you, and if they say that you were never a patient there then that means they burned all the records or something, cause I tried getting them directly from Gaebler and they said they had no such patient by my name and Gaeble was till open when I tried to get them. soi I went through DSS, all I got those was papers stating I was there,nothing from Gaebler itself, I think they broke the law as we know they did a million times, but, I think they destroyed everyone's records which is against the law, I am trying to see another way of getting them. I actually just went to Gaebler today, cause I do live in Waltham and I went inside and OMG!! it's so scary, I toook pictures, I will try and put them on here if I can figure out how to do it....

Hello Boiler,
I don't think that you know me, I was on Ward D, from 1982--1983, my boyfriend at the time was very strong though, he was on Ward B when he first got there and then went to Ward D when he became a pre-teen. What is your name? I am Michelle Woods, and I just went there today to try and get some clousure in my life and let me tell you, the place is so friggin scary, I knew exactly where I was went I went in, I did take some pictures and I will post them as soon as I figure out how to do it on here. I actually am still in contact with my ex-boyfriend, we are best friends. I have seen him a few times in the past couple months. All the walls have writing on them, and all the rooms are pretty damaged, but, you can make out the cafeteria, which is almost arcoss the door to the stairs that go upstairs to the Wards. I saw all the school rooms, the seclusion rooms on my Ward, and my bedroom on the Ward I was on. It's just so erie, and I can't believe that my mother put in there, I didn't need that kind of structure, actually none of his kids needed that kind of structure, getting locked in the shower, and the building,and when it was lock down all the bedroom doors would get locked. The staff members that were there when I was there, was, Willy,Suzanne,Jack,Melodee,Harvey,Joanna and a couple others that I can''t remember. I hated all the Dr's there, they always made me feel like there was something wrong with me physically cause I was overweight, and the pysche Dr's were crazy, I think they were worse then us kids, they made me out to be such a off the hook child, that had such a behavioral problem that I needed to be locked up. And they would give us medicine to keep all calm, I can't remember the name of it, but, it was like a thorazine. It's just horrible and an inhumane place for children, I man jails aren't even like this place. I hope that someday they tr this building down, cause I live in Waltham and I have most of my life and I drive by there all the time and it just brings back horrible memories. I hope that you are doing well in your life considering being here in that place, I am married, with 2 beautiful girls and I have a wonderful husband. Thank God for him...

If I am not mistaken that is how the seclusion rooms on the ward I was on looked like, I was on ward D...friggin god dam scary for any child, and the mentally world is horrible to kids, I mean jail is so much better then this place ever was..thank god it closed down, my boyfriend almost died in there because of physical abuse by a couple staff members,...thank god he was abkle to escape, I would be totally lost without him and until this day he is still in my life, thank god, cause he is the only person who can really understand me...

To Larry,
jJust to add one more thing, you need tto get the letter notorized as well when sending the requet for your records....I hope I was able to help you out in this matter....

To Larry,
You can get your records, I was there from 82-84 and I got my records, the problems is that they black out al l the staff's names who said what about you to whom and things like that, but, for the most part you can figure out for yourself. All you have to do is write to DSS and get them, you need to send a coy of your license or picture ID, a copy of your birth certificate to prove it's you and tell them the years your were at Gaebler and they by law have to send you a copy of your complete and total history there, I did it when I turned 21 or 22years old and I got them all, then aIso got all my records from DSS and everything with them and then I went to St.Germaine Lawrence School in Arlington,mass for a couple of years and I got all those recoeds too. If you have any problems, let me know, I will helpo you....