For four years, I attended a high school located right beside an army base. Everyday I would drive past men and women walking down the sidewalk fully dressed in camouflage uniform. Though I'm not a very religious person, whenever I would see one of these men or women, I would pray to God. Nothing too long, just 60 seconds or so of, "Please protect them. Please bring them home. Please keep them safe."
Praying once a day was/is not enough to show my deep appreciation for these gallant heros.
To me, visiting the Veteran's home was a small and humble "thank you" for those who have served.
The volunteer work we were assigned was light-hearted. We helped with a weekly round of bingo and assisted with transporting seniors to their residences. Though most of the men and women experienced visual or auditory handicaps, there was no question that each one was chockfull of sagacity and knowledge.
I spent a lot of time interacting with a woman named Shirley. I was informed at the beginning of Bingo that Shirley could not speak, but sometimes tried to articulate using hand gestures.
At first, Shirley was completely non-expressive. She did not smile or show much interest at all in the game. Frankly, she seemed pretty unaware their was a world around her. I wondered if Shirley had developed a hearing impairment.
Towards the end of the game, however, I made one last effort to talk to her. I asked if she had any children, and for the first time, she made eye contact with me. She looked at me and SMILED. IT WAS AWESOME. She then took my hand and a tear slid down her face. I honestly thought I was going to start crying as well. In those few moments, Shirley showed me a glimpse into her life.
There is a cheesy but pertinent quote by Maya Angelou that says, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." I was lucky enough to experience one of those moments that day in the Veteran's home.
I'm not sure if I will ever be able to express how thankful I am to the men and women who have served (or currently serve) our country, but I do feel that the Veteran's Home is not a bad place to start.
I really enjoyed reading this and understand where you are coming from because of my experience at the Veterans home. It is so hard and almost frustrating to communicate with some of the residents but still, I want to continue trying because I know they all mean well. You found that out first hand. It is amazing how much they truly appreciate us being there. Are you going to try and work with her again next week? I wonder if through out the semester you can develop a deeper relationship with her and maybe she will open up more. That would be an amazing experience in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI am not doing bingo night but I am working events like that. It’s nice to see how excited they get over them and how much it brightens their day. My favorite part was getting to go to get them because it really cheered them up. Good luck with the rest of your experience!
It seems fitting to mention that it is Veteran’s day on the day I post this. Every Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day my Boy Scout troop would always march in our hometown’s parade with our local VFW post. It was always a moving experience to see them and the pride that they had in their country. We owe our freedom to these people and I cannot praise the service that you are doing enough. It’s important that we give back to these veterans after they have given so much for us. I’m hoping that your time spent here has been as rewarding for you as this experience. Veterans deserve our respect and I am actually regretting not deciding to serve there myself. There really is no better way to do your service than to do a huge service to those who served American and stood up for the freedom that we enjoy today.
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