Jun 5, 2026 By Katherine Mansfield 3 min read

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one in a monthlong series about the people who make up our community, in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.

The predicted rain was late (if, indeed, it planned to arrive at all), so Dorothy Parker stood beneath a cloudless blue sky with a stretch of dock all to herself.

She didn’t seem to mind. In fact, Parker, who was born in Washington, grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and returned to the area in 2018, seemed content to have a small portion of Cross Creek Lake to herself.

“It’s peaceful,” she said, sweeping a glance at the placid waters. “I come out here on the water; it gets my mind together. It’s calm, serene.”

Parker started fishing a few years ago with her fiance, and the pair makes the drive from the city of Washington to the north entrance of Cross Creek County Park, where they seek the serenity the lake offers. Fishing is a slow, meditative way for Parker to decompress from her demanding and sometimes high-stress job in the mental health field.

“I take care of people with IDD mental health,” said Parker, who spends her days caring for an individual with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Mornings include helping her individual get ready for the day – including bathing and brushing his teeth after breakfast – and taking him to a day program, or into the community, or spending time with him at home. The afternoons are a bustle of activity, too: There’s lunch, and dinner, another shower, the evening routine.

The work is rewarding. The job, an unexpected career.

“I went to school for criminal justice,” said Parker, who studied at St. Clair Community College in Ohio. “My dad lived here already. My little stepbrother’s autistic. When I first met him, I just fell in love with him.”

Parker’s mother already worked in the mental health field. Her mother, she said, invited Parker to move back to Washington and join her.

“I’ve been here ever since,” said Parker.

Here is where Parker fishes, where she makes tea, where she researches true crime cases (“I’ve always been interested in crime, true crime, serial killers, all that type of weird stuff,” Parker said). Where she is raising her little girl, Journey.

“It was one hell of a journey getting her here,” laughed Parker. “She was a COVID baby. I couldn’t have nobody in the delivery room. I can’t get the vaccine because it’s too brand new and pregnant women, didn’t know if it’s gonna harm the baby or not. It was rough.”

Parker has a 27-year-old son, too, but being Journey’s mother feels like starting over, in a way.

“They said, you’re going to get born again, and I’m born again. She’s a feisty one,” Parker laughed. “I don’t remember him (being little). It’s been so long.”

So watching Journey hit childhood milestones feels special and new. Parker is impressed by her daughter.

“She’s feisty. She is very smart,” Parker said. “She likes to be outdoors, come fishing.”