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[bendcoles4]

The Cole family, of Bend, includes, clockwise from left, dad Jeff, 50, daughter Anna, 16, mom Diane, 49, son Ethan, 18, and Tokyo exchange student Kenichiro Fujino, 15.
Melissa Jansson / The Bulletin

‘Accepting people the way they are’

Bend family strives to make a positive impact in their community

By Alandra Johnson / The Bulletin

Published: November 28. 2008 4:00AM PST

The Cole family, of Bend, is a pretty inclusive bunch. They like to reach out to others, whether it’s inviting exchange students to live with them or simply accepting people for who they are.

It all started in Ohio in 1985. Diane wanted to be neighborly, so she baked some cookies to deliver to the people living in apartments near hers. That’s how she met Jeff Cole. She got a dinner invitation out of it, and not long after, they fell in love. The couple married about 20 years ago.

They moved to Bend, with son Ethan and daughter Anna, 11 years ago. Both kids now attend Mountain View High School, where Ethan is a senior and Anna is a sophomore.

The Coles have lived in the same house in northeast Bend since they first moved to town. They know their neighbors and have made close friends.

“This is home for us now. It’s felt that way for a long time,” said Jeff, 50.

Character

“My mom, she’s actually really strong. When she wants something done, she works really hard,” said Ethan.

For instance, when the Coles first moved to Bend, Diane, now 49, realized that none of the parks had equipment designed with special-needs children in mind. This was important to Diane because Anna is wheelchair-bound because she has spina bifida, a birth defect that affects the spinal cord.

Diane started a letter-writing campaign and was able to get churches, the park and recreation district, and Rotary clubs interested in the idea. Eventually, a special playground at Larkspur was built, designed with special-needs children in mind.

Diane has used this strength at many other times, including advocating for people to respect handicapped-designated parking spots. It also served her well last year when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

She says the experience was difficult and her children found it scary. She received 33 radiation treatments and has been cancer-free since October 2007. Diane’s mother is also a breast cancer survivor.

“Diane is my rock. I don’t know what I’d do without her,” said Jeff.

Jeff works in sales for North Coat Electric Co. Diane serves as the contributions clerk at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Bend on Sundays, and during the week she runs a day care center in her home. She has done that for the past seven years and says it “helps keep me young.” Diane wanted to work from home so she could be around in case Anna needed to come home sick from school, which happens sometimes because she has a seizure disorder.

Diane believes the children she cares for benefit from being around Anna.

“It gives them that tolerance thing. She’s just Anna to them,” said Diane.

Cultural exchange

Kenichiro Fujino, known as Ken, moved in with the Coles at the beginning of the school year. The 15-year-old is from Tokyo. He shares a bedroom with Ethan through the school year. Ken is the family’s sixth exchange student, but his stay will be by far the longest. The previous students, all also from Japan, stayed with the Coles for a week or two.

Ethan started the family’s connection to Japan. When he was 10, Ethan heard a song in Japanese and fell in love with the language. He has studied it for the past three years and intends to pursue a Japanese degree at Portland State University next fall. Eventually, Ethan would like to either teach English in Japan or teach Japanese in America.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” said Diane of the exchange students.

The decision to host Ken happened very quickly. Diane saw a notice in The Bulletin announcing the need for local host families. She called to find more information and discovered, of the three students remaining to be placed, one was a boy from Japan. Two weeks later, they went to pick Ken up from the airport.

Ken has made a lot of friends already. He joined the Mountain View High soccer team and has attended every home football game. He also enjoys going to the mountains and doing outdoor things with Jeff.

The Coles planned to have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, complete with turkey, cranberry sauce and stuffing. Today, Ken expects to accompany Diane to scoop up good deals during her annual Black Friday shopping trip. He wants to experience everything he can.

The family

Jeff enjoys the outdoors, from mountain biking to hiking, rafting and skiing. But getting the whole family outdoors can be a challenge. Ethan isn’t particularly interested in the outdoors, while Anna can struggle due to the limitations imposed by her wheelchair.

“It’s really difficult to get around,” said Anna.

She finds other ways to participate and has enjoyed playing assisted soccer through Top Soccer and riding horses through Healing Reins.

While he doesn’t enjoy the outdoors, Ethan does like Bend.

“I like Bend because it’s not too big, not too small.”

As a family, they like to go bowling and play board games. Anna can bowl using some adaptive equipment and she likes to play the arcade games at Sun Mountain Fun Center in Bend.

Anna is pretty social and enjoys talking with her friends. Diane says her daughter is happy all of the time.

“It’s like I never get bored,” said Anna.

Jeff calls Anna his “little angel,” though he also believes she’s strong-headed and stands her ground.

Diane calls her husband honest and hardworking. Ethan admires his father.

“He’s wise. I think he is, I really do,” said Ethan. “He’s smart and really active. I look up to him.”

The two share a quirky sense of humor and love movies like “Airplane!” and “Anchorman.” In turn, Jeff says he is very proud of Ethan, saying he’s the kind of son he always wanted to have. He appreciates Ethan’s “rare intelligence and outlook on life.”

Diane calls her son level-headed and a good big brother.

Ethan says both of his parents have taught him to value tolerance and “accepting people the way they are.”

“That stuck with me a lot,” said Ethan.

Jeff also wants his kids “to think for themselves and not follow the herd.”

Diane believes that life isn’t fair, but everyone should try to pursue what they love. And for the Coles, a big part of what they love is family.

Alandra Johnson can be reached at 541-617-7860 or at [e-mail].

[PurplePen]

Dec. 3, 2008 at 9:41 PM

What a neat article written about your family.  You should be proud!

[lovnmy3boys]

Apr. 16, 2009 at 11:48 PM

Great article about your family! My oldest son is getting married this summer and they are hoping to move to Bend...they love it there and it will be much closer to us than the Portland area!

 He graduates from pharmacy school next month and was offered a job from Bi-Mart. You may see him sometime!!  ;0)