Communicating

Yesterday a co-worker and I were invited to the volunteer luncheon held by our local nursing home. She and I have been hanging out at the facility twice a month since last October. We are officially the Sharing and Caring Club. All we do is allow a small group of residents to communicate with us. We talk about the past, the present and yes even the future. Just because they are residents of a nursing home does not mean they have stopped thinking.

The luncheon we attended yesterday was an annual event to thank all the volunteers associated with the facility. As the activity director stated she couldn't do her job without volunteers.

I found it interesting that I knew about half the people who filled the dinning room because of previous community volunteering I have done over the years. My co-worker chose to sit at a table with people she knew, but I had the opportunity to sit with someone I wanted to get to know better. I have talked to Thelma off and on during our visits, but we had never had the time to just sit and communicate.

I discovered she has lived in the area for over forty years and was for many years the director of nurses at  Cibola General Hospital. She and her husband of six years traveled for the first four years of their marriage, then it was necessary to admit him to Grants Good Samaritan Center due to Alzheimer's. Thelma became a regular volunteer at the facility and has been there ever since. We had a lot to talk about as my mother-in-law was also a victim of that disorder. Thelma is a wonderful lady and I am happy I had an opportunity to get to know her better.

The food we were served was excellent, especially the much too large piece of German chocolate cake for dessert. At the end of the meal guests were all given a very cool tote bag with the words, "Volunteers making a difference in the lives of others". The invited guests also got to choose a wrapped door prize. Mine was a water bottle with "thanks for all you do" written on it.

My co-worker and I left full and very happy with the knowledge that we are going to keep on doing what we are doing, because we know that communication is a big part of keeping the residents healthy.

Here's to your health

Today has been a strange day following a path to good health. It started with a trip to Albuquerque with a good friend to keep an appointment with my dermatologist.  A few weeks ago I noticed a small growth below my eye, that had existed for some time, seemed to be growing. I first had my primary care doctor look at it and although she didn't think it was serious she suggested making an appointment with my dermatologist, which I did.

Bright and early this morning my friend, Ginny, and I were off to the big city. We arrived about an hour early and decided to check out Trader Joe's. We have never shopped in that market without buying something and today was no exception. If you are looking for healthy this is the place to go. I ended up with a bag of Minneapolis (small oranges), honey wheat pretzel sticks, orange flavored dried cranberries and just for the heck of it, a bag of veggie & flax-seed tortilla chips. That should give me enough munchies for awhile.

After our little diversion we ended up in the parking lot of Dermatology Consultants. While I kept my appointment, Ginny, who doesn't like to waste time, decided to walk around the neighborhood. She has a certain amount of steps she likes to take daily to keep fit.

Face to face with my doctor I showed him what I was concerned about. At first he said the growth was benign, but then decided he wanted to do a biopsy and send it to the lab, just to make sure. I calmly asked, "can you freeze it?", hoping for the least painful approach. His answer was, "No I have to cut it out".

The most painful part of the procedure was not the cutting it was the needle, necessary to numb the area. I tried to remain calm and still through the brief surgery. It is a good thing I have complete trust in my doctor and the decisions he makes to keep my skin healthy. I have been going to him since my daughter, now 33, was in the 6th grade.  Fair skin and sun do not mix well. He always reminds me it is not what I am doing now it is what I did years ago.

Our next stop was something we had been looking forward to since I made the appointment. Lunch at the Tomato Cafe. Ginny had introduced me to this fabulous eatery on our last trip to Albuquerque. We love it! It is Italian with a healthy twist, which includes: a salad bar with 6 dressings, 2 homemade soups, 5 handcrafted thin pizzas, handmade bread sticks, 3 pastas, 6 pasta sauces, meatballs, green beans, broccoli and if you still have a little room, soft serve yogurt.

After our tummies were full we headed back home. It had been a day of healthy choices for us both. Most of all I am grateful for a dependable friend like Ginny who always comes to my aid when I need her..

One hour one time

I am so excited about the writing camp my group is offering our local elementary students this summer. Everything is falling into place with very little effort. Our dream of inspiring young people to write is growing in ways we never imagined. I can clearly see that the experiences I have been given over the last few years have helped manifest this dream.

What's really great is the only cost to our small sponsoring group is paper, pencils & pens from the dollar store. With the economy today cheap is a big deal! Future Foundations Family Center, provides us a free room to hold the camp and their staff assists in getting the word out to the students through their summer brochure.

This is our second year of offering a writing camp and we wanted to expand on what we did last year. When I suggested two weeks instead of one I think I noticed one or two in our small group holding their breath. My next comment was, "There is no way we can do this alone-  so we need people from the community to help us".

Together we started coming up with ideas, not generally found in the school day, to inspire young minds to realize that writing is more than essays and books. It is a skill we all use every day. Our number one priority is to make it fun to learn. Sort of like Mary Poppins and her spoonful of sugar.

Because I have volunteered in the community for several years I literally "have people" that have talents that I can tap into. I also recalled a very successful block party I manifested, as the Resource Development Coordinator for our local nursing home. All I did was ask people/groups for $10 in exchange for a space on the facility grounds where they could promote anything they wanted to.The event lasted four hours and brought in over $2,000. 

I pretty much used that same process to locate community help with our writing camp. I knew from my past experience that talking to people in person rather than via the phone would be a better approach and I was right. All I asked for was one hour one time. Not one person said no to me.

This year our writing camp, thanks to some generous caring individuals will offer as inspiration: art, music, newspaper writing, food, a NM video, volcanoes, poetry, interviewing, dialogue and creative writing.

There is absolutely no reason why any group, no matter how small, could not take on a project like this in their community and I hope we have inspired others to follow our lead.

A star is born

My writing group, Write On People, was very small this morning, but I believe we proved that it doesn't take a lot of people to launch a great idea. It just takes minds focused on positive energy to make good things happen. This morning a star was born before our very eyes.

Several weeks ago we decided to include as a member of our group a resident of our local nursing home who displayed an interest in writing. In fact she had been writing all of her life, but entering a nursing home temporarily pushed that talent aside. She had been concentrating on another of her interests, crocheting. Life moves on when you aren't paying attention. We noticed her, we grabbed her, and claimed her as our own.

She often makes the rest of us look bad because almost as soon as we decide on our next writing challenge her mind starts working on how she can put her concept on paper. She has a wonderful imagination that seems to never stop working. Anyone who believes nursing home residents are simply vegetables who have no value have never met our Ms. M..

I had been told by the activity director of the facility that our newest writer had been working on a story that she had not yet shared with us.With a little nudging Ms. M. read her latest project to us this morning. It is an unfinished story about a horse named Star. We were mesmerized as she took us on a journey we had never been on before. My first reaction along with that of another member of our group was, "You have the makings of a wonderful children's book". Her response was, "Really?"

Ms. M. then shared that she had been working with a fellow nursing home resident to create sketches for her characters. Why you little sneak you!

As I drove her back to the nursing home after our meeting this morning she admitted she had been seeking feedback from us. Sometimes all one needs to become a star is a little encouragement and caring friends to help them believe in their own ability.

You go Ms. M. we are right behind you!

Mixed energy

Yesterday while most people were busy reacting to the horrible events of the Boston marathon bombing   of 4/15/13 I experienced a day of mixed energy.

In the morning I noticed that my chest felt like someone was pushing in on it. It didn't cause breathing problems but was enough annoyance to get my attention. After I finished my morning exercises it went away. I mentioned it to my massage therapist later in the day and she noted she had experienced something similar. We concluded the air was full of negative energy and none of it belonged to us.

I had been working on ideas to make this summer's writing camp, sponsored by my writing group, really special for the participating elementary students. The idea is to use unusual means that they don't get in school to inspire kids in grades 3-6 to write. My personal goal for this week was to locate community residents who would be willing to help us carry out our ideas.

I was looking for people who are passionate about what they do. In order to convince them to help us,  I  first had to be passionate in the way I approached them. I had 10 hours available and just needed a few people to use their unique knowledge to fill them. By the end of the day every single person I talked to gave me a yes. Working together with our current writing group's members the summer camp will be a huge success this year and will hopefully inspire some young people to find a love for writing.

This morning I thought about the energy from yesterday and my mind went back to knowledge I acquired about my beloved Riverwalk Park, while writing my first book. Around the mid 1990s, a former Grants, NM mayor, Jackie Fisher, had a vision. He convinced a number of residents to tear down some old buildings and construct a park right in the middle of town.

The following is an excerpt from my book, Wake Up! "A man named Weaver with remarkable vision planted each rock. He would look at the area, dig a hole and search for the exact rock to fill it; numbering each one on the bottom."

As I thought about that fact I realized it was exactly what I had done. I had holes and looked for the exact person to fill the space. I can't help but smile this morning at the mixed energy that was available yesterday. Bad stuff happens and it always will, but when you focus on positive energy you can always turn it into something positive.

Sharing some photos of our Riverwalk and the wonderful "rocks" Mr. Weaver found.

Write on

This morning I was so happy to see that a young friend of mine, who is also a blogger, has begun writing again after an absence of several months. I love the way this person writes. He freely opens his heart and is not afraid to share what it contains with his followers. Paul Soluri just created a new blog site and I would like to encourage my readers to check out his honest writing. His current work can be found at: http://dayinpaulslife.wordpress.com/2013/04/15/the-very-first-day-in-the-life/

We writers all have something to share, but sometimes we question whether or not anyone actually cares what that is. I have lived through that questioning process more than once and I am still writing because I know in my heart it is what I am supposed to do. I have often received feedback from people I would never have guessed that what I share is helping. It is the warmest most fulfilling feeling in the world to know that simply sharing my life experiences is making a difference and inspiring others to be the best at whatever they are passionate about.

Today

This about sums up my life on this sunny Sunday morning. You all enjoy your day!