Paint the Town Red

Location: H.O.M.E. – Pat Crowley House

Date: Sunday, June 09, 2013; 2:30-4:30 pm

As Wilson and I drove towards the Pat Crowley House, he got a call from Noel, who wanted to ask him about something.  It was going to be her first time leading this project and she was trying to ensure that all things had been covered, and who better to ask for advice than Wilson.  We arrived around the same time as Noel, who was wearing her ‘Volunteer Leader’ shirt.  I was teasing her by called her ‘Leader Noel’, while Wilson was joking around by asking me to “Respect the shirt”, by pointing towards her.  Noel was playing along and since we were early, it allowed us to indulge in all of this.  The phone rang and Kara, the RA, called Andrew saying that it was Dorothy.  I have never seen Andrew move so fast and he practically rushed to the phone to talk to his lady love.  Wilson said that we should give him some privacy, and so we retired to the backyard.

The beautiful garden

I was a glorious day and we even contemplated staying there for the duration of the project.  The backyard is nothing short of a beautiful garden and I wouldn't have said no to us staying outside.  Noel said that we were going to be making animals from aluminum foil and masking tape.  Now, aluminum foil in my opinion makes for an excellent tool to store leftovers and for lining baking sheets.  But making animals…I wasn’t so sure. Wilson threw himself into this project with gusto and had started work on an elephant, with Noel doing a bunny.  I reluctantly started working on something which looked like a fan, so I decided to call it a peacock! 

Wilson's elephant

None of the residents were coming out, so we decided to take our supplies inside.  Once there, we were joined by another volunteer Heather, who was at her very first Chicago Cares project.  I told her that this was my favorite project and she had picked a right one to participate in.  Mabel was the only other resident besides Andrew who had come to participate.  Almost everyone living there is an artist and we had already seen some of Andrew’s creations.  Mabel was no exception and she showed us a sketch he had made of one of the other residents Annabelle, and it was a remarkable likeness.  Mabel decided that she wanted to make a cat, though it was turning out to be more like a ferocious tiger.  Wilson’s elephant on the other hand was progressing well and it led to us having a discussion on Asian vs. African elephants.  Noel’s bunny was slowly turning into a work of art and so was Heather’s cat.  My peacock on the other hand was now looking more like another creature and I decided to call it a dinosaur instead.  I am adaptable if nothing else!

And my peacock-dinosaur-alien thing

Andrew was not making anything, but was participating in the conversations.  He told us about a surgical procedure that he was having done later that week and it was clear that he was feeling apprehensive.  But he was in a good mood since he had just talked with Dorothy earlier.  He said that she was moving to the suburbs to her daughter’s and that means he will be able to see her more often.  Andrew said he felt lucky to be alive and one of the main reasons for that was WWII was over before he could be deployed.  Many folks that he knew did not make it back.  We said that he had a great spirit and now with Dorothy nearby, he was sure to get even better.

We could hear Kara singing in the kitchen as we continued our conversations.  Next up was a discussion on dreams.  Wilson asked if I dreamt in black & white or color.  I said it was in color, because unlike a movie, the mind does not need to distinguish to let us know that we are seeing a dream.  Wilson said that at the next session we should make a ‘Dreamcatcher’.  That would be interesting, though having seen a truly terrible movie with a similar title; I am hoping that our crafts session would be better than my experience with that!  In the meanwhile Noel had finished making her bunny and it looked fantastic.  Next she started making a carrot for him while Heather worked on a bunny of her own.  She draped her bunny with pink fabric, prompting me to say that this was a date for Noel’s bunny, which was bringing Heather’s bunny a carrot at the beginning of their date.  We took some pictures of the two bunnies together, as well as some of the other creatures, like Wilson’s dragon.  My own creation was now looking like something from the Alien movie and I said that it can easily destroy any of the creatures made that day. 

Bunny date!

Our time was up and despite me having done a lousy job, by and large we had created some very good animals.  Even though this was her first time, Noel had done a great job as a leader.  I left for the train station with Heather, while Wilson stayed back to serve dinner for the residents and also chat with them.  I told Heather about other volunteering options with Chicago Cares and One Brick.  I had once again enjoyed my conversations with the residents as well as my fellow volunteers, and even though I will continue to use the aluminum foil at home for food storage, there are definitely more creative uses for it!

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