Friday was our second-to-last day
in Harlan. We continued our service with senior citizens in their homes…
In the first house that my group
visited, we met the lovely Rosemary, her husband Willy, and their cat: Baby
(ba-aby, ba-aby, baby oooh). Rosemary and Willy had been married for 46 years,
and the house they lived in was located across the street from where Rosemary
was born. Rosemary was really excited to show us her collections of figurines
and dolls, as well as paintings that covered every wall of every room. She
explained how her pieces had been collected over the years, some of which she
saved from when she used to sell art. She also told us that Willy had worked as
a coal miner for 15 years, and now in his later years had been diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s. As we cleaned, Rosemary made peanut butter fudge for us, and Baby
darted around by our feet.
While we were there, three
different people stopped by to help Rosemary and Willy. The first visitor was
her niece, who came to drop off hot dog rolls that Rosemary requested. The
second was a man from a meal delivery service, bringing their dinner for today.
Lastly was a nurse, visiting to give help give Willy a bath. Rosemary kept
repeating how lucky she and Willy were to have so many people supporting them,
which was clearly evidenced by their cheerful visitors.
Rosemary embodied the kindness and
warmth that we have experienced during our time here. She enthusiastically
greeted each visitor by introducing us and saying over and over how grateful
she was for us to be there. I didn’t think anything of dusting off furniture
and washing walls, but seeing Rosemary’s reaction was heartwarming and helped
me remember the importance and impact of direct service.
After a lunch break, we visited another
elderly citizen: Eugene. He lived by himself in a house near our campsite. His
home was drastically different that the others we had seen: simply furnished
with wood floors and bare walls. When we arrived, Eugene was comfortably seated
on his couch watching a western movie. He instructed us to wipe down the
cabinets and windows, insisting that these tasks would take no longer than 45
minutes. We finished in about 20 minutes after cleaning the cabinets, counters,
tables, windows, bathroom, and walls. We kept asking Eugene if we could do
anymore, but he insisted that he was just fine and wished us on our way.
My group enjoyed a 2 hour Frisbee
break while waiting for the rest of our participants to come back to camp.J For dinner, the camp
manager, John, made barbeque pulled-pork sandwiches with coleslaw for us.
YUUUMMM. These pulled-pork sandwiches were better than the ones from
yesterday’s lunch. Elliott and Ryan both ate 4 to prove it! Afterwards, we
played an invigorating game of Uno followed by reflection.
As one of the experience leaders, I
am always excited and happy to see my participants grow throughout the week.
Today’s reflection proved how much everyone has learned, as well as come closer
together as a group. I am so proud and grateful to have met with everyone here,
and I am kind of sad that our experience is ending so quickly. I know next week
I’ll miss living off of PB&J/Nutella sandwiches, freely shouting haboob and
bidet whenever I want, and listening to Elliott make alarmingly realistic Gollum
noises. I’ll miss Chloe’s infectious laugh, Julia’s beautiful smile, and Ashley
and Susan’s attitude. I’ll miss Sophie feeding us tidbits on Harriet Beecher
Stowe, Ryan’s snoring, and Sabrina and Emilio’s sass. I’ll miss Amanda and her
great friendship and leadership, to which I accredit most of this experience’s
success. I’ll miss s’mores by the firepit and the sound of the steam running by
the cabin. I’ll miss looking up into the night sky and seeing nothing but stars.
But I still have tomorrow.
Goodnight for now,
Christy
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