Game Night At Wesley Place

Location: Wesley Place

Date: Thursday, February 05, 2015; 7:00-8:00 pm

I had been here just once before, and that was over a year ago.  I wasn't feeling my best when I took the train there but knew that once I got into the room with the seniors it would be fine.  There was snow on the sidewalks and I was making my way down the treacherous path when our Volunteer Leader Veronica texted me to say that she was running late and that I should take the volunteers to the dining area.  I arrived at the facility and the problem was that I had forgotten where the said dining area was!  By the time I could figure it out, Veronica arrived and we went upstairs.  Well, so much for me helping out.

While Veronica signed up the volunteers, I went inside the community room and saw two ladies sitting and watching TV.  I went over to chat with them and asked if they were ready to play games.  They said sure, but not ‘Uno’ since it puts them to sleep. I introduced myself and learnt their names were Holly and Joan.  I asked what they were watching on TV and Holly said that it was some game show where you had to guess something based on the clues and there were attractive prizes and vacations.  I said that nowadays if you are lucky to get on a show you may make more money in an hour than most of us in a year, and both Holly and Joan agreed with me. They asked if I was the “Boss” and I said that I have never been called that…ever!  Holly then asked if I owned the place.  Well, it just keeps getting better.  I said that I did not, in case they started discussing the next shade of paint that should go on the walls.  I had decided to spend the evening in their company , but first Joan left and then Holly said that she was tired and going to sleep and perhaps next time we could chat.  Story of my life, maybe I should have said that I was indeed “The Boss”.

Aah Italy

As they left, the nurse said that we should come earlier rather than at 7 pm since it was almost time for their bed.  There was a table with 4 women whom I vaguely remembered from my previous visit and I knew they liked to play ‘Uno’. There were enough volunteers there, so I chatted with 2 other ladies who weren't interested in playing.  One of them was wearing an interesting looking ring with some things that looked like charms.  I looked around and saw that there was a board with lot of sticky notes with things written on them, like "White House" and "Italy", and a list of things to do when there.  I asked who's going so that I can be best friends with them.  I learned that this was an activity that they had done, and I saw that they had really captured some cool things to do.  I was pleased to see "Swimsuit" as an essential for Italy just after "Passport".  Looks like the folks here knew how to travel.  There was something poignant about this since none of them would make it to Italy or any of the other places.

The ‘Uno’ game started and one lady wasn't participating.  I said that maybe she and I could provide a running “play-by-play” commentary and that seemed to wake her up and she started chatting, so much so that she was now talking over the game.  A nurse took her to another table and I joined her there with Veronica, who brought a magazine over to show her.  For the next 20 minutes the lady talked non-stop, all non-sequitur.  Her topics were so varied and intertwined that it was as if they were on a stack of paper that she had dropped whereupon they had been mixed and out of sequence when picked up.  We heard things regarding her son - who she said was a mathematician - her daughter-in-law, her grand kids - whom she said she loved spending time with - some trip to Wisconsin, which she called a business pleasure - the best kind I said - her daughter-in-law’s father - who she said was smart – and her coat - which she said wasn't seal skin and which had fur collar and lining.  She kept saying that her coat was missing because someone had taken it and she wanted to find it.

We looked at some of the pictures in magazine like the one of a little girl whom she called adorable and also some of the food pictures.  She commented on the advertisements saying that all of them seemed to have young people.  Most of all, she talked about a house and some renovation like varnishing of floors and bathroom tiles.   She said that although she didn't know much about it, she was the "boss lady".  “Damn right you are”, I commented.  All of this conversation was being repeated on a loop.  She then turned her chair around and said this was the front porch, and that she was going to go through the house to the back porch.  And it was then that I understood.  All of it had been some long forgotten memory. I said that it had been a pleasure sharing her porch with her, even though I had missed the sunset.  As I watched her drag her chair slowly down the corridor, I thought that maybe it is better for these residents to have some of these memories, even though that's all that they are.

Veronica and I joined the hugely contested game of ‘Uno’ with 3 residents and 3 volunteers.  I cheered on one of the ladies and helped with her cards since it looked like she could use it.  On the other hand, another resident Georgia - whom I had met before - knew what she was doing and was competing.  But she was a good sport and would applaud whenever someone won, even if it was a volunteer.  A volunteer won the last game and Veronica said that we should play for a second winner, but the luck of the game meant it went on and on and well past 8 pm. At this rate we would be here all night but another volunteer won - as much as we cheered for one of the ladies - and we decided to quit.  Georgia thanked us profusely for coming and making them happy.  And it had just been one hour…one hour.  Her thanks continued for some time and she blessed and wished us a safe journey.  Before leaving I asked her to take me to Italy, considering there were such great things planned.  None of the residents here are anywhere close to Lakeview Nursing in terms of health.  Most even suffer from advanced dementia.  But they thanked us for making them happy.  Some of these visits are unforgettable and this was one of them.

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

Dinner At The Wells Street Cafe

Location: Breaking Bread Ministries/LaSalle Street Church

Date: Wednesday, February 04, 2015; 5:45-8:30 pm

I arrived to find that there was a partition in the main dining room.  Marianne said that it was for “Spirit Feeding” program where the students from ‘Moody Bible Institute’ do Bible study with the guests.  Keith was in the kitchen and he referred to me by a different name as usual.  Marianne asked me how many desserts Wilson was going to get through his volunteers for the ‘Valentine’s Day’ party next week.  I said that I would ask him and he replied saying that 10-15 volunteers would be getting 1-2 dozen pieces each.  Well, if that was true then we would not be short of desserts for sure.

The industrial sized can opener

Marianne put me on can duty, opening cans of tomatoes, draining the juice and then giving it to the team making the pasta.  I had some trouble using the industrial grade can opener and one volunteer tried showing me how to do it…and failed.  Marianne had to come and explain how it worked and I was on my way.  I opened multiple cans and drained as requested.  As I sent them, Keith kept saying that we needed more cans, then less, then more, then less, and then he said let’s just do everything.  As he did that, he was dancing to some music station which was playing Michael Jackson songs.

I also opened some big cans which seemed to have “Marinara” type sauce and then some cans of corn.  Little Hannah was here and we mixed the corn with butter and then Keith came and put some of his “secret” spices on it.  I put the seasoned corn in 8 inch pan and then into a steamer.  I chatted with Hannah and she told me that she had scored 100/100 in her ‘Math’ exam, though she was ticked off that she had scored 199/200 in ‘Choir’.  It’s always amazing to be reminded that she’s still in school.  A couple of new volunteers were working on the salad and I teased Hannah that since she was so good in ‘Math’, she should count the 18 bowls for me!  She’s a good sport about all of this.

There weren’t as many volunteers today, though some regulars like Joe and John were present.  Marianne was looking for me to help out everywhere, and she sent me off to get bread from the warmer so that the 2 new volunteers could put garlic butter on it.  Since these 2 were the only new volunteers, Keith did a private introduction for them.  I said that in my 2 years this was the first time that I had seen him doing this private session.  Marianne still did her part by getting everyone together and then told us about the “Spirit Feeding” which was going on outside.  This place is supported by ‘GCFD’ and they don’t want anyone to “promote” religion as a reason for people to get dinner.  So over here they do it prior to dinner and in a separate area.  Once dinner service starts, they remove the partition and then it’s a normal dining room.

Marianne assigned duties and initially I was on juice, but then was moved over to serving.  The menu for this evening was “Meatballs with Spaghetti and Meat Sauce with corn and garlic bread” and that looked quite hearty.  I served the salad and then came back to serve corn and bread.  I had to move rapidly and once the plate was complete, I put it on the tray rack where some other volunteers took it out to the guests.  While we were serving, the music was on and one of the guests was singing with gusto.  Once the first round was done, I moved to the back of the counter to count the second's.  A long line had already formed and looked like the guests had enjoyed their dinner. 

After serving I usually help with the cleaning up front, but today Marianne wanted me in the back to help John with the washing.  He looked a bit flustered today and that was perhaps due to the shortage in volunteers.  He showed me how to stack glasses and for next 30 minutes I put away clean glasses, pitchers, plates and bowls in cabinets while he cleaned.  It was the busiest I have been here over here and I learned to appreciate what happens in the kitchen during clean-up.  I wiped down the counters, cleaned sinks, and was finally done by 8:30 pm.  I told Marianne that I would come for the party on the 13^th and would even wear a suit.  She thanked me and I left after saying bye to all the people who have become familiar.

Library Maintenance

Location: Walt Disney Magnet School

Date: Tuesday, January 27, 2015; 6:00-8:00 pm

Talk in everlasting words

And dedicate them all to me

And I will give you all my life

I'm here if you should call to me

I love Words – Written, Spoken, Sung, you name it.  It is remarkable how sometimes one is reading a book or listening to a song, and a simple construct of words grabs your attention and the book or song becomes memorable because of that.  Years later when you hear that phrase again, you remember exactly where you were when you first encountered it.  Amongst other things, words can be a teacher, a counselor, an instigator or an exhilarator.  But more importantly, words can be a comforting friend and something you turn to for baring your soul when you need the most.

I had not been to this place in over a year.  As I walked down the familiar road, I came across the cozy café in the basement that I had always liked and had hoped to visit someday.  Well, the coffee shop was closed for good and there would never be a visit.  For whatever reason, this made me sad.  I guess timing is everything.  I arrived at the school and saw that the kids were still there.  It was the first time that I had seen this place so full.  Our Volunteer leader Lori arrived and I went over to chat with her.  This was the 2^nd ever project that I had done with Chicago Cares in 2012 and back then it was Lori’s first time here as well.  So it seems like she is one of my older acquaintances through Chicago Cares.

Slowly the volunteers trickled in just as the kids left.  The librarian Katie came own to get us and we went upstairs past the familiar Mickey and Minnie, and through the colorful corridors.  Once we were in the main library Lori told everyone why we were there, including the fact that Katie and the other librarian teach during the day, meaning that our help is invaluable.  Now it was time to allocate duties and with me being very familiar with the perils of shelving under the ‘Dewey Decimal System’, I chose to go to ‘Fiction’.  This is one of the few projects that doesn’t require any interaction between the volunteers and so I put on my earphones and got to work.

'I Survived' series

I saw a series of books with pictures of dogs on it, meaning I had to stop and take a look, and also a series of books which were a series named, "I Survived”, followed by the name of some disaster from history.  Some of the titles were related to “World War II”, “Titanic”, “Pompeii” etc.  I am all for teaching the kids’ history in a more engaging way, but these seemed like a stretch.  I worked steadily and finished my section well before the ‘Non-Fiction’ folks.  But it would have been rude to just stand and watch, so I went over and helped them out for a while.  I saw a book on my beloved ‘New England Patriots’ and with this being the ‘Superbowl’ week and with the controversy surrounding them, I was suddenly energized even more.  We thought that we were done, but then realized that there were indeed some more ‘Fiction’ books left and so polished them off.  Even with that this had been a rapid session and we were done early. 

As I walked the path of the lost key, I was unsure of my return to this place.  But I know I will.  I mean it’s a library and one of the first things that I ever learnt to love were books.  Earlier in the evening as I was sorting the books, my friend had texted me saying that her grandma had passed away.  She mentioned how her grandma had taught her 'Scrabble' and how she owed her a lifetime for that. I said that the gift of words is immeasurably and something which is truly noble.  And this was an evening when I was surrounded by books.  Yeah, I will definitely come back.  After all, you can never turn your back on your love can you?

You think that I don't even mean

A single word I say

It's only words, and words are all I have

To take your heart away 

Lyrics by Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb

Job Coaching

Location: Open Door Shelter

Date: Monday, January 26, 2015; 6:45-8:30 pm

Chicago Cares had asked if I could lead, but I was travelling over the weekend and so did not want to commit – especially since some prep work is required.  It was snowing when I arrived and that has almost been the norm for most of my visits here. But the yellow lights on the streets give this place a surreal look in the snow – especially the adjoining church - and that’s something to appreciate.  Connie from Chicago Cares was leading the project this evening and she greeted me at the door.  Also present were two gentlemen, Mike and Wayne who have both been here before.  In fact Wayne was getting trained as a leader for this project.  Three other volunteers showed up and it was their first time here.  Connie introduced the project – adding that I was a good leader – and as we discussed, many were using the word “kids” to describe the residents.  I said that we should refer to them as “youth”, especially since we were simulating a professional environment.

We went upstairs and the youth were already around the table.  I went over and joined them while the other volunteers, at first just stood around, but eventually came and joined us.  Connie said that we should introduce ourselves and say one interesting fact about ourselves.  For many their most interesting fact was where they were from or that they liked animals.  I said that I was on a quest to travel to all 50 states and that seemed to spark some interest.  For the ice breaker Connie wanted everyone to walk up to at least 3 people, introduce themselves, shake their hand and have a basic greeting.  The idea was to gauge people’s handshakes.  I went over and introduced myself to 4 youth and was impressed with their handshakes.  Plus they were pronouncing my name correctly.  Connie then debriefed with us and everyone had a good handshake - firm but not a hard grip, good eye contact etc.  The youth had liked this activity and when one guy came in late, they made him do this exercise.  The new guy was good at this and for his fun fact said that he writes poetry!

I had a "Rocket Man" with me!

Connie asked who likes interviews and not many put their hand up, but I did.  I think you learn a lot about someone from an interview.  We were going to spend 1 on 1 time with the youth, practicing interviewing skills.  First we would interview them and then they would get to do the same.  Connie asked if I could pair with 2 since there were more youth than volunteers, and I said sure.  I had Thomas – the poetry writer who had come late - and Darin.  We had been given a script by Connie, but I was going to do my own thing.  I asked them what their ideal job would be and Thomas said that he was interested in Engineering while Darin said that after high school he was enlisting in the ‘Marine Corps’, but eventually wanted to do sales, retail clothing to be precise.  I asked Thomas to start by giving his elevator speech.  He told me how he and some teammates had designed a rocket.  They were in fact designing to achieve a speed of faster than sound.  I followed up asking about their design process and the lessons learnt.  He used lot of words like ‘Newton’s Laws’ and talked about Von Braun as well.  I asked how they measured speed and he got into the formula of force.  While it wasn’t the most convincing technical argument, he was at least using scientific principles. 

I asked Thomas what the costs were for his rocket and he said that he remembers those numbers since they spent so much time on them.  He said that it was $53 when they started and now it was $79.  I said that the objective is to go down in costs and they were moving in the opposite direction.  I asked what was the cheapest that he could get it to and he said $10.  I said that’s lofty, but at the end cost is the most important thing in any business.  We also discussed philosophy of design, how iterative improvements are critical etc., and I found him to be an engaging young man.  He had earlier mentioned something about encouraging kids to get into ‘STEM’ and I asked how he would do that.  He said that he would use ‘Batman’ and ‘Iron Man’ reference; saying that they are nothing but engineers, and that should get the kids excited.  What a brilliant example!  I asked him about “Accountability”, and he mentioned how he had been the leader of the project and had made mistake in calculations.   However, he had realized that soon enough and corrected.  I followed up with a question on “Integrity” and he talked about how the “power went to his head” but he had eventually realized the importance of teamwork. 

I turned my attention to Darin and I asked him to sell me a raincoat if it was raining and when I have an umbrella.  He was soft spoken and difficult to hear, but he was very good in his solution where he said that umbrella doesn’t protect you from the wind.  I was impressed since that was an exact answer that I would have expected.  He then said how he had found a coworker talking poorly with a customer and how he had spoken with them to get them to apologize to the customer.  Darin was nice to talk to as well and we discussed the concept of “want vs need” when it comes to selling.  Next, I told them to ask me “follow up questions” and they asked about growth and I - playing the part of the employer - told Thomas how he could join the ‘Design’ team, put work in there and then rise up to work with ‘Business Development’ to understanding what the market wants.  Then it was their turn to interview me and they asked about my history and questions like, “have you had a problem with a team”.  I told them about my interactions with other departments during my Ph.D. and also about leading an engineering team; plus lessons learnt in both.  They asked about my passion for engineering - I was interviewing for a ‘Product Development’ position in a ‘Cell Phone’ division - and I said that while “technology” is similar to the ingredients in the burger, “engineering” is the burger assembly, and that’s what I liked doing.

Connie asked us to wrap-up and gather for a discussion.  She asked everyone to rate their experience on a scale of “1-5” with “5” being “excellent”.  One youth gave “3” and said that he couldn't take it seriously since it wasn't real.  Well, you can’t please them all.  One girl gave it “4” saying that her interview skills were already good and her interviewer agreed.  I gave it a “5” and said that I had a great time with my 2 “candidates”.  I was pleased to see that they rated it “5” as well.  I said to the girl that it's not just about the skills but also the fact that they are able to learn from our life experiences and that's the most important thing about these sessions.  Wayne said that it’s important to tell a good story during your interview and I concurred. 

It was time to leave but we had all filled out an evaluation card and I wanted to discuss that with Thomas and Darin.  Thomas had given himself “3's” and “4's”, which was also the rating I had given him.  I said that I admired his passion and his personality.  The only feedback was to be careful that he did not speak on something - especially science - if he was not sure about it.  It was perfectly acceptable to say “I don't know”.  Darin had given himself “5’s” and I had given him “3’s”. I said that it was not a criticism, but constructive feedback.  He had given great examples and he could be really good but he also needed more confidence. I told him to “speak up” and he nodded.  We left after what had been a great session.  The youth even asked when we were coming back and this isn’t always the case.

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

Senior Diners Club

Location: Lidia Pucinska Apartments

Date: Thursday, January 22, 2015; 6:00-8:00 pm

I had not been here for a long time and so when I arrived at the usual building, I was surprised to see that the entrance to the community room where we cook was blocked.  There was another volunteer there and we were told to go to the building across the courtyard.  She introduced herself as Chelsea, and we walked over to the building. We were directed towards the kitchen where we found our volunteer leader Margarita and another volunteer Fernando.  The first thing I noticed was that this was different setup than the other place.  This was a small kitchen attached to an activity room of sorts – in fact a resident lady was working out on a stationary bike.  Margarita told us that the dinner would actually be served in a room on the top floor – 20^th.  This was not ideal because the volunteers would miss out on interacting with the guests during the initial phase, not to mention that all of the food would need to be transferred upstairs.

The meat station

The menu was ‘Sloppy Joe's’, ‘Mac & Cheese’, and ‘Coleslaw’ and ‘Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies’!!  The water for cooking Macaroni’s was boiling and Fernando was preparing the coleslaw.  Chelsea and I were tasked with making the Sloppy Joe's.  We started by chopping the vegetables - green peppers and onions.  I was discussing with her ways of avoiding watery eyes by keeping the stem at the end – all learnt from ‘Food Network’. Once the veggies were chopped, Chelsea and I moved to the cooking of the meat and there was a lot of it.  We both had our pans full, with almost half of meat still waiting to be cooked.  It was a tight spot in the kitchen and we had taken 2 of the smaller burners on the tiny stove with boiling water on the back burner for pasta.  The meat was taking a long time to cook and by now another volunteer, Joey, had arrived.  He and Fernando took over the brownies, while Margarita had to go out to get some last minute supplies.

I added onions and peppers to the meat and now the pan was really full and I was struggling to keep everything inside.  We also put 9 packs of macaroni’s the boiling water and Chelsea and I then drained the fat from our pans using a lid for support.  Margarita came back from her shopping expedition and then went upstairs to run the Bingo game.  Another volunteer arrived and since the kitchen was already crowded, I sent him upstairs to help her out.  I was enjoying conversations with my fellow volunteers and we were wondering what sauce we would be adding to Sloppy Joe's, but we were actually creating a sauce in the pan using ketchup, mustard, brown sugar, garlic powder and salt.  There was no seasoning beyond that and I was concerned how it would all come together.  Fernando was our taster and declared the macaroni cooked and ready for mixing with the cheese and butter.  The meat was simmering with all of the sauces and other ingredients in it and the brownies were in the oven. 

The incredible brownies

Just as the meat was being removed from the pans and into the trays, Margarita came down and said that the Bingo was done and that the residents were ready for their meal.  I asked how many guests were attending this evening and she said 30.  I said that we should proceed with the meat that we had ready and that I would come upstairs after cooking the remaining meat.  Chelsea and Margarita went to the dining area leaving me to cook the rest of the meat.  The brownies were done and I finally got a look at the concept, which was cookies on top of brownies – a brilliant idea if there ever was one.  Joey took the pans upstairs and now it was just me cooking the meat while Fernando was doing the dishes.  For this batch, I decided to make the sauce separately, so as to get more consistency of taste.  I mixed the ketchup, mustard and brown sugar separately in a bowl and poured over the meat.  It also allowed me the freedom to manipulate the meat in the pan with more flexibility.

The view

The meat was done and before Fernando and I could go upstairs with it, one resident came and took some meat to go.  As we arrived on the 20^th floor, the most striking thing was the view, which was outstanding.  The dinner was almost over, though a few new residents had come in and so the meat was just on time.  I said to Margarita that I was perhaps the most popular person walking in with the tray!  The coleslaw was gone, as was the initial tray of meat.  Some brownies were still remaining as well as mac and cheese.  Margarita said that they would not be keeping the food here; meaning either people took it to go or she would take the rest and give to the homeless.  There was a sweet old lady who came to take some home some of the food, though she was feeling shy to ask.  I told her that she could take as much as she wanted.  One lady came to take some meat in a cup and as we went to hand it back to her, she said that we would have to place it in her palms since she was blind.  But based on her demeanor, she did not seem hampered by that at all.

It was time to go back down and as I waited for the elevator, I took another look at the view.  I could totally see myself sitting on the deck during summer admiring the skyline.  It was one of the best common rooms that I have been to through Chicago Cares.  There were a few residents in our elevator and a lady got in to go to the 6^th.  I jokingly said that that’s where the party must be.  In the meanwhile instead of going down, our elevator was called back up and it was the other lady who had taken the extra food.  We told her to go to 6^th for the party and for a minute she looked like she was thinking about it.  I came down and gathered my belongings.  Margarita had some wrapping up to do and I offered to help, but she said that she would be fine.  It had been a wonderful evening and I had enjoyed the company of my fellow volunteers, all of whom had worked really hard. Plus the residents were great...as was the view.

Lakeview Seniors Pet Therapy

Location: Lakeview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

Date: Monday, January 19, 2015; 6:15-8:00 pm

I came in to see that a few dogs had already gathered in the waiting area.  I went into the community room and saw that Jim was still here.  Once again he promised that he would leave in a couple of weeks. Elmer, who had sent me an email offering his law firms services to Chicago Cares and Make-A-Wish, pro-bono.  It was very kind of him and I thanked him for that.  I looked around and saw that Emma was there as well and she was wearing a “Super Mario Bros.” t-shirt.  Way to show off your fashion Emma!

I came out to see that even more dogs had assembled, including Bruce and June, whom I hadn't seen in ages.  Also present were a beautiful Australian Shepherd called Opie, a 14 week old sweetheart called Isabelle and a Golden Retriever mix.  All in all we had 13 dogs, a record for my time here.  And we were hearing them through all the barking!  There weren't enough non-pet volunteers so our Volunteer leader Veronica, asked those pet owners who had been here before to go by themselves and then paired the first timers with non-pet owners.  I was with a 1 year old excitable thing called Izzy and her owner Janie. 

Izzy!

Izzy was a Shepherd Mutt and had lovely dots over her eyes which looked like eyebrows.  We started on the 2nd floor with David who I know loves doggies.  Izzy was extremely active and was jumping up on him to give kisses. She loved being petted and he gave her a thorough rub down.  We then went to another lady who admired her from afar and then to Polly's room.  Izzy was trying to jump all over Polly and we were trying to prevent that since even a small scratch to the seniors could cause an infection.  Dena who was in the same room is usually active with dogs, but was lying quietly in her bed staring at us. Age it seems has caught up with her.  Our next stop would have typically been with Gloria, but Veronica said that she had left for another place and I hope that she has recovered enough to be independent.  We visited Loritta who had little Isabelle on her bed.  She is always ready to chat and told us about a preacher who starts off each sermon with a joke. She told us about a thief who breaks into a house and hears a voice saying, "Jesus is watching you", multiple times.  He then spots a parrot who's saying that and learns that its name is “Moses”. So the thief then asks, "Who's Jesus".  The answer comes back, “It's the 100 pound Rottweiler".

We left her in splits. Next we went inside a room where a lady was watching something on a tablet and I said that she should watch out, since Izzy was a jumper.  She asked me where I was from and at first I said my usual "South Loop but I was born in India".  Then to my immense surprise she started conversing with me in ‘Hindi’.  And not just a few words, but entire sentences!  She said that she had a Ph.D. in languages from ‘Berkley’ and had lived in Punjab and Lahore to finish her studies.  She talked with great passion about those days and of Indian delicacies.  She told us about a time when she had a meal one evening under a mango tree on a farm in rural Punjab.  We were translating for Janie but poor Izzy was feeling left out, though the lady was scratching behind her ear.  She told us how she misses Indian food… any good food saying what passes for vegetable over here is BBQ sauce with fish nuggets!  We said that she needs to make it to Devon.  She went on to tell us about the 17 doctors who had misdiagnosed her for years in all of the facilities prior to this one, including a place where she almost died of carbon dioxide poisoning.  But now she said that she was feeling better and would be leaving soon.  She said that she missed speaking ‘Hindi’ or ‘Urdu’ and I promised to stop by whenever I was in here. I said goodbye in ‘Hindi’ and we left.  But not before I had asked her name, and she said that it was Pearl.  Little was I to know that she would become a permanent fixture for all of my subsequent visits. 

We went to the 3^rd floor and there are really two main stops here, Hannah and Jerry.  Before that, we stopped for Izzy to get a drink of water and the poor thing must have been extremely thirsty as she just lapped it up.  We went into Hannah’s room and I asked how she was.  She said that she was sad since Johnny B had died.  This was terrible since I knew what the cat meant to her.  I asked if I could show Johnny B’s picture to Janie and Hannah told me to pull it out of the usual drawer.  I asked Hannah how far along was her book, the one she was writing with Sam.  Janie asked what the book was on and Hannah told her that it was called “9 lives of Johnny B”.  Before leaving I told Janie that Hannah used to be in movies and Hannah said that she had indeed been an extra in several.  She told Janie about some talent agency and that Janie should register with them, and not just her, Izzy as well. 

Emma's Teddy

I told Janie that Jerry would have some treats for Izzy for sure, but she was getting tired and so Janie decided to take her home.  I wished them goodnight and then went inside the Bingo room.  Jane was calling the game and I told her that I had taken over for her the last time and couldn’t do as good a job as her.  I joined a table of 4 residents who were with another volunteer and started playing.  While some people on our table had already won things like candy, cookies etc., we did not have a good session since I came over.  At the end I collected all the chips and then took Emma upstairs.  I told her that I was going to her hometown of St. Louis and she said “Oh”.  I said that she should tell me what to do.  She was clutching her Bingo prize, which was a ‘Hershey’s’ bar.  I asked if I should drop her to her room and she said “That would be nice”.  As I entered her room, I saw a teddy on a table holding a heart saying “love”. I actually think that this was from me 2 years ago. I had sent her flowers and there had been a teddy accompanying those.   I asked her about it and of course she said that it was nice. 

I waited for a nurse to come for her and then said bye to Emma who thanked me.  It had been another good night.  My hairdresser had said to me that the world is a nicer place because of people like me.  I said that I appreciated her saying that, but I wasn’t out to make a difference.  I do it because for a couple of hours I am with people who do not want anything from me other than someone to talk to for a bit, and I do not want anything from them.  There is no expectation and nothing to hope for.  No one is lying and no one is trying to be nice.  No one is saying things to please or hurt you.  There is no worry and it’s the most basic humanity on both sides. That's definitely worth 2 hours of my time.

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

Celebration Of Service In Honor Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Location: Thorp Elementary School

Date: Saturday, January 17, 2015; 7:00 am-4:00 pm

“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way”

-          Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

When the email came asking for participants, as usual, I had replied in the affirmative.  Then they said that they didn’t need me and I had responded by saying that I really wanted to do it and that it would be “heartbreaking” if I did not.  This dramatic appeal seems to have worked since I got a phone call from Chicago Cares saying that they would find something for me.  Finally, I got an email from Rich asking if I would help out and I said that of course I would.  So I was finally assigned to a school way down on the South side where I would be leading the painting of a classroom.

It was time once again

Once again, Stacy was my Primary Leader and she said that she could pick me up, but it would have to be early.  That was fine with me and so at 6:45 am, she picked me up and we drove all the way south to the school.  We arrived to see that Rich was already there, along with a few other leaders from ‘Target’.  Rich was recovering from a broken ankle and so had some sort of a scooter on which to rest his leg.  I said that we would be having races down the corridor by the time this was all done.  We went to the Principal’s office to drop off our stuff, just as other leaders arrived – both Chicago Cares and 'Target'. 

The state of the room when I arrived

Besides the class room paintings, there were projects to make murals and wall logos, building planters and making pillows…though I had no clue what that meant.  We went for a walk and the school had two buildings, with most of the classrooms in the annex.  My classroom, 143 was right next to where all the supplies were stored.  Well, at least I wouldn’t have to travel far.  But all of my enthusiasm went out of the window as soon as I stepped inside my classroom.  No prep work had been done.  All of the furniture was still in place.  It looked like a reading room for kids and all around were tables and shelves of books.  Plus there were lot of things on the wall and the room was overcrowded with…stuff.

Since there were 2 hours to go before the volunteers arrived, I got down to work and started by moving all the furniture to the center of the room.  Some of the bookcases and tables had wheels, while some did not and were heavy.  I moved the furniture for next hour and it was brutal at times.  I tried to get everything pushed away from the wall and to the center of the room.  I told Stacy that I could ask the volunteers to take down the wall things, but she said I should get started.  I must admit that I was a bit ticked off that the school officials had not done anything to prepare for our arrival.  Some of the wall hangings were screwed tight and Rich said that I should leave them in.  I started taking the posters down and they had been stuck using duct tape; some of which was peeling the paint when pulled off.  A volunteer leader from 'Target' came to help me, and for the next several minutes, the two of us took down stuff from the wall.  The most time consuming thing was then taking off the tape from the back since it was extremely sticky.  Ironic that I was helping make things from duct tape just 2 days ago!

The 'Target' volunteers had started arriving and it was time to go to the auditorium for the welcome and orientation.  As we waited, I was chatting with the Chicago cares volunteers and learnt that almost all of them were “Auxiliary Board Members”.  They usually do these annual events and I urged them to try and get out in the field more often for not much has been learned by just sitting in the boardrooms.  Inside the auditorium the 'Target' volunteers had assembled and were waiting for instructions.  We had each been given cards stating our projects and were asked to recruit volunteers in the crowd by handing them these cards.  I had 7 cards and I was sure that I would need more than that.  I went into the crowd and handed out my 7 cards.  The opening ceremony started, with a choir followed by a performance by the school’s cheer leaders.  Stacy got the crowd going – and she is fantastic at doing that - followed by the Principal welcoming everyone.  Then one of the 'Target' managers took the mike and really got the crowd excited by getting them to cheer “We are Target”. 

Now it was time to go and I held up a sign for my volunteers, so that they could follow me, and only 3 girls of the 7 showed up.  I told Rich that I would definitely need more people.  I learned that two of the girls were sisters and the 3^rd was their friend.  One of them said that we should have music and I said that she could be in charge of that, though there was music blaring through the speakers.  I said that we had 3 main tasks – Prep, Paint and Clean, in that order.  Just as I was doing that Rich got me 3 more guys to help out in the room.  We laid down the paper on the floor and I helped two of the girls put drop cloths on blackboards and other permanent fixtures.  The guys got on the ladders to take down some of the posters that were still there, and clean the top half of the classroom.  We were changing from a light brown to a light blue color.  I put the girls on the lower half of the wall, especially taping off the edges and around moldings, posters, windows etc.  Speaking of edges, I had never seen so many edges and corners in a room before! 

We were taking a long time in taping and it was getting close to 11:30 am, with just an hour to go for lunch.  I asked my crew to pick up the pace and joined them in taping and even painting.  Even though our progress was slow, it was steady and everyone was working quite well with each other.  Rich sent over more people and now we had the room buzzing.  This allowed me a chance to go and look at other projects and I found that most had already finished one coat of paint in their rooms, meaning they were able to lend me a few of their volunteers.  In our room, the lower half had a coat and so I sent the girls off for lunch.  I decided to relieve people in staggered shifts and so asked the 3 guys to stay back to finish at least one coat all over the classroom and to their credit they stayed back. We were done soon and then left for lunch.

All painted in Blue

Inside the auditorium everyone was having lunch and catching up with each other on their morning’s activities.  I stuffed myself quickly and went back to my classroom.  The 3 girls were already there and I got them painting a 2^nd coat on the lower half of the room.   I painted the top using rollers, but soon the guys arrived and took to the ladders to paint the top.  Other folks arrived and now we were really rolling.  The guys were doing a great job with the top and I thanked them for their dedication. One of them was a store manager and he said that I deserved some credit as well, which was a kind thing to say.  We finished the 2^nd coat and then started peeling the tape.  We were soon done with that and now it was time for cleaning.  I was taking the sleeves off the rollers and it was getting a lot of paint on my gloves.  We double bagged everything that had paint on it and threw away the drop cloths and paper on the floor.  Despite the paper that we had put down, there were paint drops on floor and we all got down on hands and knees scrubbing.  The volunteers were fantastic in their help on this. 

One more 'Celebration of Service' in the books

We did the best we could and then all of us went back to the auditorium for the closing, but not before I had taken a picture of my fantastic crew. Stacy thanked everyone and then everyone lined up for group pictures.  There was a poster with MLK on it and everyone was signing it.  I did so as well and then went over to thank my team.  They really had done a remarkable job…similar to the other 'Target' volunteers of previous years.  After the 'Target' team had left, the leaders took a picture of all of us, and then all of us went back to outside of my classroom to scrub some more of the paint drops.  When the floor was looking decent, we collected our stuff and Stacy dropped me off. There had been some hurdles like the lack of preparation in the room and few volunteers, but we had made it work. It had been another successful day of ‘Celebration of Service’.