The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 27

THE PANTAGRAPH FOCUS SECTION TUESDAY November 5, 2002 Elections IV lielicorkx look lo redeem Iheiuxelres Page D6 Dying, he finds a new family for his children and prepares to say goodbye Bill Flick ther ewe i 9 law. Santa lives on rooftop for Halloween Flick lite: Our latest handy listings, compliments of the readers and your own resident Lite Boy: I Most inadvertently amusing Read the half-burned-out neon sign recently at a restaurant in Normal: "Maverick Steak Ho We know those beef-loving types. I Earliest seasonal reminders On a rooftop along Hovey in Normal Santa. In the window of a home in the 1400 block of West College a Christmas evergreen, fully decorated and lit on Halloween night. Trick 'rtree-t? Latest bumper snicker As spotted along Interstate 70: "If only Closed Minds Came with Closed Mouths" 1 if.

I Best way to keep people out W1S5hIS atESin i Kyia Del Valle used her shirt to wipe away tears from the eyes of her father, Felix, in July at their home in New Haven, Conn, Lori Burgess played with 6-year-old Crystal Del Valle at the Burgess home in Hamden, Conn. i the entry way of the Logan County Courthouse in Lincoln and noticing what's on the lower level, is it any wonder why Vi Jr Ji.1i,.. I folk might not want to traipse there? I Most brazen inscription? As reads the plaque over one of the fountain waterfalls at Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington: "RYAN FALLS" Has Rod Blagojevich seen that? I Oddest sight At a Bank One in Springfield, as a convenience for sight-impaired customers using the bank's drive-through, is an earphone-plug for customers who can hear but not see. Umm, an earphone for customers who drive in but cannot see? I Latest redundancy As uttered by a CNN reporter at a Maryland murder scene: "The victim was fatally killed." I Most ironic marquee message As it appeared recently on a marquee in rain-deluged New Orleans, in front of a business that sells boats "Tonight's Boating Class Postponed Due To Floods I Four more fun places to visit, if only for their names (as offered by the readers) Pucky Huddle, Mo. Fishhook, 111.

Beaverbottom, Ky. Gnaw Bone, Ind. I Best inscription As it appears on florist truck in B-N: "Caution: We Make Fragrant Stops. I Most logical locale We're advised the next meeting of the Bloomington-Normal Psychological Association will be a membership drive at Crazy Planet downtown. Best name club Dr.

Randy Toothaker. He's a professor at the University of Nebraska's School of Dentistry Ron Drainer. He's a state official based in Springfield involved in water and sewage treatment facilities. Father Kneal. That's Ellsworth Kneal, a retired priest.

I Latest license winner As spotted on car in Bloomington: "GIME5" I Best span of all seasons On one side of an aisle at Lowe's in Bloomington are summer lawn-care needs (seed, tools, etc.) directly across from the Christmas decorations and snow-covered artificial trees. I Funniest editorial exchange Letter-to-editor in recent Chenoa Town Crier: "I wanted to wait until after my colonoscopy to pay for this renewal, in case it turned out badly. Fortunately, it turned out super." Below that was a note from the publisher. It read: "Nobody's happier than the publisher that your operation was a success. We would have been out a four-month subscription if it had turned out badly." Got an item for Lite? Send to: Flick Lite, 301 W.

Washington Bloomington, 61702, or by e-mail. Our latest board of contributors: Edgar Norton, Rachel Wickart, John Hansen, Steven J. Holtz, Lenore Sobo-ta and Roger Miller, Normal; Susan Erdman and Patty Bock, Chenoa; Dorothy Weller, Dwight; Rachel Phillips, Pontiac; Jim Tobin, Farmer City; Diane Johnston, Karen Blatter, Leslie Manskey, Paul Swiech, Kevin Simpson, Bloomington; Bob Meador, Lincoln; Bob Sorem, Fridley, Emily McCue, Conifer, Mary Barr, McLean; Jill Brown, Hudson. You can reach Flick at flickSipantagraph.com Associated Press Felix Del Valle sat in his wheelchair surrounded by daughters Kyia, 10, on the couch and Janet, 9, at their New Haven, home. Del Valle, who is dying of Lou Gehrig's disease, counts on his children to help care for him.

Handing over children to new family a wrenching choice By Helen O'Neill ASSOCIATED PRESS The children tumble in from school, all breathless excitement and questions. "Daddy, can we go to the store? Daddy, can I call my friend? Daddy, can we go to the park?" It's late spring, and for a moment, Felix Del Valle forgets his disease, his tormented body, his impending death. Slumped in his wheelchair, he beams, shaking his head at the blessing of being home another day. He knows what the world sees: a 46-year-old man with Lou Gehrig's disease, a man whose legs and arms don't work anymore, a man with no money and no means of support, a man who will not witness the future of the four children he has raised alone. His kids don't understand the shadow of death like adults do, not even his oldest, 11-year-old Kyia, who feeds him and wheels him and shaves him and fakes his signature to cash his welfare checks.

Sometimes Felix wonders: Will A reporter chronicled the lives of a dying single father and his four children for six months as he prepared them for how life would be when he is gone. she learn to be a child again when I am gone? But what no one understands, not his children nor his friends, not the stream of well-intentioned social workers and volunteers, is that it's not dying that is breaking Felix's heart. It is the decision he must make by summer's end to hand over Kyia and Janet, 10, and Felix 8, and Crystal, 6, to the kind-hearted family that has offered to adopt them. Felix is grateful beyond words that his children will be raised together after he dies. But he dreads the day they can no longer live as a family in their little apartment on Day Street, when his children move on to their new life and he moves into a nursing home to die.

SEE FATHER NEXT PAGE sf' 'fTi'i iMlnit Felix Del Valle 8, bathed his father, Felix, in August. The father tried to hold the family together as long as possible. i.