The Russell Family

-- The family: Trish Russell, 40, Mike Russell, 39, their children, Traci Russell, 9, Derek Russell, 3, and Mike's mother, Margie Russell, 60, live together in Bothell.

-- How they came together: He and Trish met when they were both Northwest sales representatives for the same company. Today Mike is a remodeling contractor. Trish works two days a week as a jewelry sales representative.

-- How Margie moved in: Thirty-seven years ago, Margie came down with polio. She had a 2-year-old son (Mike) and a 6-month-old daughter at the time, and her husband left her. Margie's sister took the kids for a couple of years until she improved, but she remained in a wheelchair. She remarried and worked for Rockwell International for 15 years. "Even though my life has been a sitting-down life, it's been very full," says Margie.

She later divorced. When Rockwell closed down, Margie moved to Everett. One day she fell out of her chair while baby-sitting Traci and broke her hip. Then she contracted cancer of the larynx and had her larynx removed. Today she speaks with the aid of a voice box. "She knew she probably would never find another job and just could not afford her house," says Trish. "So we said, `Why don't you move in with us?' And she did."

Mike converted the bottom half of their split-level home to a big one-room apartment with a kitchen. Margie does her own cooking. "She's a very independent person," says Trish. "She goes to the mall several times a week; that's where she meets her friends."

-- On living with the grandkids: "It keeps the cobwebs away," says Margie, who values her separate living quarters but sees the children every day. "It makes me feel a little more alive."

Derek is an active 3-year-old; Margie enjoys watching him play and playing "cards" with him. "Even though it's not a game, he thinks it is," says Margie.

Traci is almost 10, and Margie says "she enjoys hearing about the way things used to be." Traci goes shopping with Margie, who uses a local dial-a-ride service.

-- On living with Grandma: "It's been wonderful for my children," says Trish. "My daughter is very close to her. She goes down and has dinner with her. She has a power wheelchair and my kids think that's really neat."

Trish has taken Margie to school to meet Traci's classmates during a handicap-awareness week. "Sometimes teenagers come up to her and say weird things to her," says Trish. "My kids would never do that. I think it's made my kids more compassionate.

"It's been 100 times better than I ever thought it would be," says Trish. "She's made me change a lot. You think your problems are bad, but compared to someone like her, they're nothing."

Suggestions on families to feature in Family Portrait come from a variety of sources. If you know of good candidates - or if you'd like to suggest your own family - drop us a note at Portrait, c/o Scene, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111. Please include a daytime phone number.