Arts and Eats

Location: Flannery Apartments

Date: Wednesday, November 28, 2012; 6:15-7:30 pm

Our supplies for making cards

I had enjoyed my previous visit on Halloween and arrived early at Flannery Apartments.  Alice said that we would be making Holiday Greeting Cards that day.  That appeared to be easier than the previous task and something that I thought I could do as well.  The other volunteers arrived in due course and we laid out the supplies that we would be using that evening.  This included several stickers, decorative items, glue, crazy scissors and craft paper.  All that was missing were the residents. 

My first card

We waited for someone to show up, but when no one had arrived by 6:30, we decided to get started and have some fun.  I took a red card and started putting random stickers on it.  I had a snowman, a house and a Christmas tree in one corner.  Next I took a peppermint candy cane and stuck that one the card.  It really made no sense in terms of what I was trying to say here other than ‘Happy Holidays’.  So I wrote that and then took some crazy scissors and decorated the edges.  On the front of the card I put some more stickers including a snowflake and a leftover leaf from the wreaths that we made last time.  I looked around and the other volunteers had done a great job with their cards, so much so that I felt embarrassed   Well, the evening was still young and I was just getting started.  This is when Larissa arrived.

My second card

Larissa was our first (and only) senior resident that evening and she took a seat across from me.  She took a card and started using all of the supplies.  I picked up another card and this time I wanted it to be coherent.  I stuck a reindeer and the put a tree across it, possibly indicating a forest.  Next it put some snowflakes falling down, indicating winter time.  It still looked very sad.  Then I put a gingerbread man in one corner, a heart in another and stuck a sticker ‘Believe’ on the top.  While marginally better than my previous attempt, it was still not something Hallmark would be rushing to include in their Holiday collection.  Then I looked up to see the wonder that Larissa had created.  She had used every possible sticker type and decorative gems to populate her card.  It did not tell a story, but it was something I could not help but admire.  And then I got it.  Holidays are time for happiness and family.  It doesn't matter how good the card is or if it makes sense.  All you need to communicate is your joy and what better way to do it than color, and lots of it.  Anyone receiving that card would be a lucky person.

Larissa's Card

I told Larissa that it was one of the most beautiful cards that I had seen and she mentioned that when a little girl, her mother had always felt that Larissa would be a creative person.  She said that her mother wanted all good things for her, as all parents do.  I do not know what kind of life she had, but something told me that there were some setbacks and that she was a lonely person, probably not what her mother would have hoped when putting her to sleep all those years ago.  Larissa was proud of what she had made and took the card with her when she left.  We cleaned up and Alice said that next month we would be making jewelry.  I walked to meet some old friends for dinner that night, someone whom I had not seen for a long time.  Perhaps it was because of what Larissa had told me, but I realized how much I had missed my friends.  We really need to cherish every day, every moment that we spend with people we care about, not knowing what the future holds.  And never forget to fill our life with more color than we think we need.


*All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy