Location: H.O.M.E. – Pat Crowley House
Date: Sunday, May 12, 2013; 2:30-4:30 pm
Since I was done with my morning
duties earlier than expected, I came back home for a few hours and was on my
way to the train station when Wilson called asking if I needed a ride to the
Pat Crowley House. I was happy to accept
and so waited for him at a street corner and sure enough, he pulled up with
barely enough room for me in his car and we were off. I asked where he was coming from and he said
something about helping someone at McCormick place. I told him about my experience in the morning
and as usual he encouraged me to find the bright spot and I couldn't argue
against that. We were both doing two
back-to-back projects and he said that he couldn't drop me home afterwards
since he was leaving early to make it to his Mom’s for ‘Mother’s Day’. It was nice
that despite his fervent desire to try and help as much as possible, he knew
his priorities for today. I asked what
present he had got for her and he showed me a camera.
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| The Mobile |
We arrived at our destination more than 30 minutes in advance. This gave me an opportunity to play with
Wheezy, who was the RA – Resident Assistant - Christina’s little dog and also
chatting with Annabelle and Andrew. Andrew said
that he wasn’t feeling too well and he did look a bit tired, though his mind
was as sharp as usual. Other volunteers
for today were Noel and Fran and once we had all assembled at the table, Wilson
mentioned that the project for today was making a ‘Mobile’ inspired by Alexander Calder. Making what by whom? Now I apologize if my cultural knowledge did
not extend to this, but although I had seen the things Wilson was referring to,
I did not know what they were called, or who was the pioneer in that
field. Well, I knew now!
Wilson showed us an example of a
Mobile that had been made by a resident the previous summer and was now hanging
on the ceiling. It was a beautiful
structure and I could see why babies may be entertained by staring at the
Mobiles on their cribs. Wilson then
pulled out his projector and we saw video’s on Calder’s life, art and then a
fantastic one on his puppet circus shows.
We chatted with the residents – Mabel, Wendy and Jane – while this
was going on and Noel mentioned about a Calder sculpture outside the Post
Office in the loop. Jane couldn't
picture it and kept asking us where it was, saying that she’s probably been around
this place several times. I said that
all of us may have passed by it several times without noticing, similar to
Parisian’s and the Eiffel Tower!
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| And mine! |
As we saw some of the bigger
Mobiles in the video, Wilson kept talking about how it was about finding the
‘Harmony and Balance’ in one’s life, while Jane being a more realistic person
said it was all about Physics. I agreed
with her completely, though I could see Wilson’s point, for it truly looked
remarkable and was indeed a peaceful sight to watch these things glide through
the air. All this time Andrew was chatting
with a girl who used to be a RA and had come to see him. As I have always said, one of the reasons why
I like coming here is because of the people and this was an example where
someone had come back to meet with them.
As I went over to their table, I heard him talk with her about his guns
and how he was still strong and fast when it came to handling one of those!
The video was over and Wilson
wanted all of us to make our own Mobile and in doing so “find balance”. Besides the
balance in the sculpture, he was referring to finding balance in our daily
lives. I made a sorry attempt with some
heart shapes and was really struggling to get the ribbons firmly fixed to the
straws. Fran and other made fun of my
knots and Wilson said it was like trying to tie your shoelaces. I said that that’s the reason why I wear
slip-on’s, leading to another round of laughter, which happens a lot during
this project. During our conversations
today I learned that Wilson’s family used to own a restaurant. We asked what he did and he said that he was
a bus boy till his sisters left and then he graduated to being a server. We also learned that he loves to watch
movies, though none of us could figure out when he found the time to do
so.
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| Andrew's sketch |
While we were chatting, Andrew pulled
out his sketch book and we saw a sketch of a woman which was the spitting image
of the actress from the TV show ‘Cold
Case’. I complimented him,
especially on how he had sketched the features such as lips. He said that he usually started with the
mouth and the eyes and called the eyes as “Windows
to the soul”. “Amen to that”, I replied. Jane had brought some musical instrument which I had not seen before and it looked
like a string guitar that you play by putting it horizontal on your lap. She was playing it and was quite good. She mentioned that she had turned the strings
around since she was left-handed and I said she could have kept them the same
and played upside down like Hendrix!
Jane is quite a musician and told us about her singing group that has
been meeting every week for the past several decades.
Wilson kept reminding us to work
towards a balance and when I complained about my difficulties, he said that an
almost blind man had made the Mobile that hung on the ceiling and so there was
no reason for me not to do it. I joked
that since he was almost blind, his other skills and senses must be enhanced,
such as dexterity in his fingers. But
Wilson was right; I was making a mess out of it and could have been more
involved. But I have always enjoyed the
conversations a lot more and so was chatting with the residents more than
worrying about my knots. Annabelle had
decided that the Mobile was not for her and so was making a dog out of craft
paper – yes, a dog. In fact, it turned
out to be quite good and when she mentioned that she was going to throw it
away, I said I would be honored to have it on my wall of souvenirs. She agreed and so I requested she sign it for
me.
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| Annabelle's dog |
With that safely in my bag, it
was time to leave. My Mobile had just
made it to the second level and I abandoned it for this session at least. Noel said that she was taking over the
leadership for this project and that a wonderful thing since she is not only a
talented artist, but she has the requisite empathy that is essential for a
project like this. It had been another
afternoon of great conversations and we could have stayed for a long time, but
Wilson and I had a project to get to. Almost
every project that I have has led to one lasting memory and today was no exception. After finishing the work on her dog,
Annabelle had had been busy making a card for a friend of hers who is a
teacher. I asked what the occasion was and
she said that her friend worked tirelessly to help children and Annabelle wanted to remind her that she appreciated it.
I looked at the card and it said, “It made a difference to that starfish”, a reference completely lost on
me. Annabelle then told us a story
about this old man who was walking down a beach and came across a young woman who was picking up starfish and throwing them back in the ocean. When he asked why, she replied that the tide was going out and if she did not do it, the starfish would die. To this old man replied that there were thousands of starfish lined up along miles of the beach and she could not possibly save them all or make a difference. To this the young woman just picked another starfish, threw it in the ocean and said,“It made a difference to
that one.”
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| And her card |
People like Wilson and Noel and
Fran and even I have had fantastic experiences through our projects with
Chicago Cares and other organizations. I personally, have always considered it a privilege to be involved
and have an opportunity to contribute.
We often joked that despite Wilson’s superman efforts, even he cannot be
everywhere. Others compliment Wilson and
me on the time we put in and apologize that they are unable to do so. All of these theories and comments are
wrong. I have been told multiple times
by people how much it means to them to have us visit. Wilson may not be able to solve all of Chicago’s
problems by himself but he does the best he can and also inspires others to do
the same. And I would respect more a person who gives a hour of their time each year to help someone with complete
commitment and dedication, than a volunteer who logs hundreds of hours but is
disinterested. The idea is to focus on
the one person, the one project that you are on and live in that moment. Make a difference to that Starfish. And if you
really do that, you will understand the meaning of true happiness and peace.
Wilson had constantly, almost
irritating, reminded us throughout that afternoon to work towards finding a
balance. After listening to Annabelle’s
story, I finally knew what he meant. And at that moment, everything was in
harmony.
*All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy
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