Clinton Lewis/Daily News

The May day they closed down the Bon Ayr toll plaza on the Cumberland Parkway in Barren County, Bonnie Poore of 44 was downhearted. I loved it, the 60-year-old said of her job as a toll booth operator. I love people. You have your regulars who come through there all the time, and its like a big family. Ninety-nine percent of em were nice. We even had nicknames for some of them. Candy Man was a truck driver who gave the toll booth operators treats when he stopped. Then there was the Medicine Man, an 82-year-old who delivered medicine. An 83-year-old preacher, who ministered at a Glasgow Church of God, also was a regular. Poore said she and other toll booth operators adopted him. Forget the idea that working in a toll booth may be boring, or that theres nothing to do. You didnt have time to be bored, Poore said. You wanted to be alert, or something might come right toward you. Poore said many times, as she worked in the toll booth between 1999 and May 31, she would run out of the booth if she saw a tractor trailer jackknife and slide too close to her booth. Other excitement came with the traffic. One night, a man passed out in the (toll) lane, Poore said. She didnt know if he was drunk, on drugs or if he had become very ill. So, the authorities were called to check him out. The state police got him, Poore said. Poore said she was never scared of the people who pulled up to her booth after dark. I miss the people the worst in the world, she said. And now, even when were out on the road (Poore now does maintenance on state roads), theyll see us and blow the horn. They said we broke the monotony (on the highway).Monotony isnt something that Poore lets take hold as she sat in the toll booth each work day. One of my philosophies is: Always give a smile in case somebody out there needs it, she said. You would see (someone) pull up at the toll booth and they looked like they were having a bad day, and Id smile and theyd say, Boy, its nice to see a smiling face. Now, Poore is smiling in her maintenance job at a Kentucky Department of Transportation Glasgow facility. Shes happy as she trims grass along road guardrails and as she clears tire shreds and other debris off roads. She enjoys working toward her commercial drivers license, something that will enable her to drive trucks for the highway department soon. Theres no reason not to, Poore believes. For one thing, she loves working outdoors. For another, shes faced hard times and survived. Poore was raised on a Barren County farm, by the now late Hershell and Ollie Wells. She had two brothers and five sisters. Her dad died when she was 13.Losing my dad was the hardest part of my life up until then, Poore said from her rural home last week. But Poore carried on and went to Glasgow School, which taught all grades at the time. She played clarinet in the band. Then, as a young teen, she fell in love and married at just 15 years old. She would not finish high school, Poore said, but chose to later get a General Educational Development diploma so she could move to Wisconsin with her husband, who was in the Air Force. The couple lived there a short while before moving back to Kentucky, Poore said. Soon, I had (twins) Mike and Mark (Ryan) when I was 17, Poore said. She was energetic when the boys were little, and found that taking care of twins wasnt too hard, even though she often worked on production lines in factories. Well, I was young, Poore said. When she was 25, Poore and her husband divorced. The next year, she married Jimmy Poore, her current husband of 34 years. She has known him most of her life. He said the first time he saw me he thought, Id like to go with her, she said. Poore was surprised that her new husband had had a crush on her years before. But she wasnt surprised that he was a good husband, the kind who raised her little boys as his own from the time they were in second grade. The first time he spanked them, he came out of the room crying, Poore said. He loves them and they love him. Theres not a whole lot of men like that. When she was 30 years old, Poore and Jimmy had another son, Mojo Poore. She loved being a mother again, Poore said. And for years her family was happy and healthy. But when her son, Mark, now 42, was 23, he was stricken with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often called Lou Gehrigs disease. Hes (now) been completely dependent on a respirator for 15 or 16 years, Poore said. At first, Mark wasnt expected to live for more than a few years. His living has been a testament to his grit, his mother said. His daughter (Heather) will graduate from Barren County High School this (upcoming) school year, Poore said. And that was one of his goals to see her grow up. Poore said it hasnt been easy watching her son struggle with his life and health. Her faith in God and being able to see Mark enjoy life are two things that have helped her stay strong. He enjoys living, Poore said. And his blood runs Kentucky blue. His wheelchair has a respirator on it and we wheel him up there (to Lexington) to watch the (University of Kentucky basketball) games when he can. Poore said she is proud of all her children. Mike is a pressman at R.R. Donnelley in Glasgow and has a son, Josh, who will graduate from Glasgow High School next year. Mojo works in a lab at Foam-Cor and has two children, Nadia, 4, and Coby, 8.Poore said she is close with her children and all her grandchildren, all of whom (except Heather, who has a swimming pool at her home) come to her house often to swim in her pool. Poore said Heather often stops by her house to spend a few minutes in her tanning bed. The visits are treasured by the Poores. Ive been lucky, Poore said. All my kids live within five miles of me. Until last January, Poores brother, Richard Wells, lived within a mile of her. It was then that he died of pancreatic cancer while Poore was battling breast cancer. The pain of the loss devastated Poore, who about five years ago lost another brother, Jerry Wells, to brain cancer. It will take awhile to get over it, Poore said. She, Jimmy, Richard and Richards wife, Bettie, often played cards and took trips together. Poore said when she had a breast removed in January 2002, Richard was so upset, he couldnt face her in the hospital. At the time, he didnt know he had cancer. The thought of it all still saddens Poore. But she holds on to her strong faith, she said. She attends Siloam Baptist Church and she thanks God for keeping her cancer-free now. Im tickled to death that Im surviving, she said. Having cancer was a hard step in my life. But Poore never was scared of dying. Its because she believes that when she dies she will go to heaven. I said, Its either life or eternal life. So either way, I cant lose, she said.