Day 6 Volunteering

Today was a great day. Like a kid in a scavenger hunt, I was given a list and told to go find patients. Unlike yesterday, where I only had 2 patients the entire time, I was constantly on the move. My list of 5 slowly expanded as the time went on, growing by 4. One of the more exhausting days I have experienced thus far.

During the entire time I was volunteering, they were having a small gathering at the recreation room. They were playing music for them by piano and having them join in if they wanted with some small instruments. It was great in two ways, they were having a great time enjoying the music and getting involved instead of sitting there just looking at a tv or listening to the radio. The other way came in the form of an older lady in a walker standing in the middle of the hall way. I was bringing a patient to the therapy room when I am blocked by this lady. I thought she was moving but very slowly. I can't do much besides let her go on about her business so I take my time. After watching her for a little while, I see she starts moving backwards slightly with ever forward progress she makes. I notice she's moving her shoulders and legs, than I realize she's full on dancing. Well, as full on as you can be at that age. A HUGE smile went across my face. Just seeing her having a great time made me happy.

I've decided to start going out and taking pictures when ever I can. It relaxes me, takes anything I have going on in my head and just makes it disappear. You will most likely be seeing more pictures as the time goes on.

Bruce Park pictures around the main pond.






Signs on not feeding the birds in the order they are shown.










Hope you enjoyed.

Day 5 Voluntering

Today wasn't as busy as the other days have been. I only had to bring two patients down. Usually there would be at least 5, not including the ones that are there already when I arrive.

Site note: I arrived today and was greeted with food. Turns out there was some sort of meeting going on and they had been catered for. But that's not the point of the side note, the point is that a majority of them thought I was still in high school. I guess they have a lot of high school "volunteers." I quote volunteers because in high school we are made to volunteer somewhere for a set number of hours. Oddly enough I volunteered at Nathaniel Witherell when I was in high school. Go figure

One of the patients was a lady who could manager herself around fairly easily with out the wheel chair, but I insisted on letting her relax. Something that struck me as odd was that we had a small conversation as if we knew each other for years. Small jokes here and there, she would say something, and I would fire back with a witty comment. Little things like that made her smile and chuckle. I even got a "You're alright, Alberto" from her. Sort of like what you hear in the movies.

After her therapy, she took charge and decided to walk instead of having me push her. The only thing task I had to do was carry her tea because she was going to be pulling her oxygen tank in a small little trolley. So as we walked back, she decided that she wanted to stop by the small gift shop they have. She bought some snacks and some thank you cards, which turns out are for people all over the world. She worked in a hotel where visitors from all over the world would come, most being students. She stayed in contact with them and was telling me how some are having kids now and some are getting married. It was interesting and I can relate having studied abroad myself and living with a family. I carried her gift shop treats up and took her to her room. She pulled out a chocolate lollipop from The Little Chocolate Company(Picture at the end) that just opened up here in Greenwich, Feb 2nd and handed it to me. She thanked me for helping her out and keeping her smiling. I will be seeing her during my volunteering again tomorrow due to her having the same appointment.

I find a lot of random little things that I consider to be inspirational I guess you can say but here is a sign that was hanging around the fridge in the physical therapy room. I thought it made a good deal of sense. Thoughts?


Here is another that I thought was fun.


Lollipop!




And just for fun. I think I need a hair cut. Maybe tomorrows goal. This picture was taken this morning, I was out of it, don't judge.

Make someone smile

I have had a change in my thinking lately. Where it came from you may ask? Could be one thing, could be a mix of things. I think it's the latter. My routine for the past year has been wake up help the family with anything that needs to be taken care of, and job search. The bad part was when I was doing this, hundreds of people were getting laid off. So there weren't too many jobs available to recent grads, more so, because we didn't have the "experience," which was needed to be able to function in the real world as it turns out. But that's not what this blog is about. It's about my new found addition, I guess you can say to my already thinking brain. I set a goal for myself. Make someone smile, laugh, chuckle, smirk even. Just something that says, for that split second, your day was better.

I have applied to volunteer at Nathaniel Witherell, a local elderly home. My job? I find and bring patients to their physical therapy appointments. But, that's not the part that moves me. Well, I am helping but I don't have too much interaction with the patients. The time that I appreciate is the time when I am walking around the facility. There is one guy there that seems to be full of life. Just happy to still be around. Yes, there are very few of these people and it is very depressing to see and interact with the rest, but just seeing this one guy rolling around the entire facility with a huge smile on his face and talking to you for the 5 minutes that he stops you for makes it worth coming back for more. That's what makes me feel better; knowing that no matter how much stuff he has gone through in his life, which I am sure is a lot, he is completely content with the way it has come to pass. I saw him on my introduction day last week and maybe that's where some of my new thoughts came from. So I will continue to go and help out where ever I need.

Now for my thinking. It could be anything, and not that I don't do it already, I just figure I would put in the extra effort to look for ways to help. I pride myself on many things, and going out of my way to help a friend is one of them. Just knowing someone else's life/day was made better by something small is something that really hits home for me. Cause in all reality, the small things that you don't expect are the most important. Anyone can hold a door open, but do most do it? Anyone can help pick something up that someone has dropped, but do they do it? Not always, and that's mostly because there is extra effort in doing so. They may do it for a pretty lady, or an elder lady, but how about your average Joe/Jane? Most likely only if it disrupts their personal bubble. I've seen a guy open a door for a pretty lady in front of me, let her pass, then just let the door go. Besides making me mad, I thought, what kind of rush was he in that he couldn't hold it just long enough so I could tell him I got it.

Recently, I have been in a rough patch, but it's looking up. I mean, what's that phrase, Why do we fall? So that we might learn to pick ourselves up. And I am learning to pick myself up. But back to the rough spot. I went day by day, constantly thinking but no change was going on. The things that made me feel better were the little things I experienced through out the day, not to mention the occasional blinking red light on the Black berry.(That is a very addicting light.) I love seeing it blink.

Well, that's my new thought process. Make someone smile. A smile is worth more than you would think. Also, I over heard someone saying, everyday you wake up is a good day. If there is nothing else. Take that and store it away. And because I don't have pictures about any of this enjoy a picture of me. Freshly taken.