Senior Breakfast Club

Location: Mary Hartwell Catherwood Apartments

Date: Saturday, March 2, 2013; 9:00 am-12:00 pm

It had been two months since my previous visit and you may recall that I had forgotten to get off at the right station.  This time I arrived early at my stop and even had the luxury of stopping to pick up some coffee.  All of this was well and good, but once again I proceeded to go down the wrong way.  Furthermore, I was so confident that I did not pay attention to the map on my phone.  It was only when I realized that the place did not look familiar, did I check my phone and then it was rushing to get back to the destination.  I arrived to find that many of the volunteers were already there and the cooking had begun. 

A Pound Cake

I checked-in with our Volunteer leader Toby and saw that most of the folks from last time were  there and many were doing the same jobs as before.  LaKieth was leading the effort to get the fruits ready for the salad, and Phil was helping him.   Sarah and Andrew were on the eggs, Phil and Irma were working the sausages and Bridgette and Erin were on the floor, serving the residents orange juice and coffee.  Toby asked me to cut the pound cake into equal sized slices and there were plenty of those in several zip lock bags.  I learned that those were homemade by Sandy and I wondered where she was.  Someone mentioned that she was sick, but had come in at 7 am to drop off the pound cake.  That’s Sandy for you!  I tried my best to cut the cake in equal sized pieces and Bridgette suggested I cut it in half and then continue dividing in halves till I had 8 pieces.  That seemed to work, though my earlier effort wasn't too shabby either.  The cake appeared dense, as it should be, considering it is a pound cake! 

The Pound Cake, cut

Once my cake cutting was done, I moved on to serving orange juice and coffee.  I spotted Barry at the back of the room and went over to say hello.  Everyone around him was asking if he was going to play the piano and he was politely saying, “Maybe”.  I sat down and he told me that Dialysis had made him weak in his hands.  He showed me a huge wound on his arm where they stick the needle.  This has been going on three times a week, for the past seven years.  I said that at least he had his music and friends like us.  While everything may not be fine with the world, he should enjoy what he has…and he said he does.  He said that some of the keys on the piano did not work to which I replied that while the rest of us may miss out on the music, he could always fill in the blanks using his imagination...hear it in his head.  Music is as much for the musician as for the people listening.

St. Patrick's Day decorations

With Barry’s “God bless you” ringing in my ears, I went up to Toby to check on my next assignment.  We were having more guests than we had anticipated and so were out of seating places.  LaKieth, Toby, Amber and I went looking for additional chairs and tables in the neighboring building’s activity room.  With some discomfort on my part, hanging on to the table, we managed to get it in our breakfast room.  By this time all the residents had settled down and we were ready to start serving.  I went down the buffet line filling up plates and serving the residents.  Even with a minor accident where I tore a bowl of fruit, I was quite efficient.  Georgia was there with her usual ebullience and was directing the traffic of the servers at her table.  I was admiring the St. Patrick’s Day decorations when I heard one of the residents say to another, “Earth is the only blue planet”.  It seemed like a conversation I should be a part of, but there was work to be done. 

Soon all residents had been fed and the dishes cleared.  This meant two things, Bingo was about to commence, and I was going to be washing for the next 45 minutes.  It’s not that anyone had asked me to do this but I wanted to.  At my apartment I use a dishwasher and not the sink.  In fact, I never cook.  But here I was at a cooking project scrubbing greasy utensils.  The answer was simple.  I was doing it for someone else, not just for myself.  It’s strange how a simple thing like that matters.

I chatted with Sarah, who was helping me with the rinsing.  We talked about sport, our jobs and volunteering, while Andrew called an excellent Bingo game.  At one stage someone yelled “Bingo” and Andrew thundered, “Prove it!”  He really is an excellent caller.  After a mighty struggle with the eggs serving dish, I finished the scrubbing and joined the Bingo crew.  I sat down with Amber and Barry and followed the game.  Soon all prizes had been handed out and the morning was over.  I returned the furniture that we had borrowed from the other buildings and then it was time to leave. 

I walked back to the train station with Amber.  We chatted about her program at Imperial and other projects.  Later that afternoon I thought about my early days at graduate school where we used to take turns cooking.  But that was not the main thing.  We also ate together, around the dining table each night – irrespective of our schedules, we found time to have dinner together.  We were a family, just like all the people at this facility. That is something I have not had for a very long time; that sense of togetherness. There are few things in life sadder than eating a meal by yourself.   By being a part of a crew that served the residents breakfast, I was a part of their family too.  Scrubbing those dishes was the most satisfying thing I could have done and nothing would have made me feel wanted more than that. 

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