robin is my boss - and one of the nicest people i have ever met. she is always interested in my welfare and what i have to say - she is also extremely kind and generous. she makes me feel embarassed sometimes as i'm not used to people being so nice to me. a genuine gem - she is making my placement here so much easier.
so, on the first day in the office, i met crystal and jesse. both are young volunteers who are doing the same kind of thing as me for the summer. jesse is studying at college and is interested in going into social work. crystal is 15 and is still at school - she has given up most of her school summer holiday to volunteer at search and care. the only thing that i've found quite strange about them both is that they don't seem in the least bit interested in me - not that i'm anything special - but they haven't really asked anything about me, where i live, what i do, or anything really and i think that's a bit weird!
anyway, on the first day robin sat us down and went through the list of search and care's clients - with a brief description of the person and which one of us would be looking after them. then we were sent off with our lists and phone numbers and a weekly diary and that was it - we started making calls and setting up our weekly diary schedules. quite scary for me to call people i've never met - i talk fast especially when i'm flustered - and had to slow it down considerably as a lot of the clients couldn't understand what the hell i was on about.
also, on the first day, as well as arranging our schedule - i went on my first visit with jesse. we went to visit ann to return some groceries that jesse had bought for her the previous week. it was only a short visit but very interesting.
the next day my visits started properly. i'm averaging around 4 visits a day - which was absolutely petrifying for all the first visits. i'm feeling much more confident about it now as i've met nearly everyone on my list - and subsequent visits are much easier than the first ones when you have no idea what the person is like or what kind of state their apartment is in.
most of my clients are wonderful - but they are all desperately lonely - it's really brought it home to me that it doesn't matter how many kids you have or grandchildren or other family members - or how many friends you have - or how fulfilling your life has been. all of these people that i'm visiting have had these things - but as they get older, their spouses die and their friends die and their family don't visit so much anymore - and they are alone in a big city that they no longer understand. they are wonderful, funny, interesting, clever people but they are old and alone and this makes them confused and a bit cross sometimes too!
i'm really starting to think that the elderly are just a massively overlooked part of the population - both in the US and UK. so, if you have any grandparents or an elderly neighbour... you really should call on them...
i saw matty again today (see photo) - she's 93 and a born and bred new yorker - although her parents came from romania. she's an absolute doll and i'd like to be like her if i ever get to 93. she lives life to the full - she has a beautiful apartment, she's an artist (all those pics in the background are hers) and still goes to art and sculpture class 3 days a week. she has also recently learned to play the cello. we even had tea and cake on my visit today... don't know why i look so grumpy!!!!
She sounds like a very awesome lady! I hope the elderly don't become too overlooked as we will all be there someday and the elderly population just keeps getting bigger, so something will have to be done!
ReplyDeleteI think this is going to be really fulfilling, just don't let it get you down too much. These people are lucky to have you!