Boston Marathon – Jimmy Fund Walk

Location: Hopkinton Center School To Copley Plaza, Boston

Date: Sunday, September 27, 2015; 6:15 am-4:45 pm

Last year, as soon as I had finished my walk, I had said that I am never doing it again.  Well, in spring of this year my friend Som had said that he would do it with me this year if I signed up, and so here I was again.  I had requested donations to raise the minimum $300 and thanks to a last minute push by my buddies, I crossed that threshold easily.  I had gone to Newport, RI as a part of my “51/51” and one of my buddies picked me up at Providence airport after my short visit there.  I arrived at his house in Holliston on Saturday late afternoon, his place being just a few miles away from the start line. 

Ready to start

After a fun evening with my friends, I turned in and woke up at 4:45 am.  One of the more difficult things on this walk is to evaluate is how to dress, since it usually starts off cold and heats up as the day goes on.  Som and I were dropped off at ‘Hopkinton Middle School’ and were then taken by a shuttle to ‘Hopkinton Center School’, which was the start line.  There were a lot of people on the bus and not only did they look good-natured and friendly, but they had done this several times over.  Plus, we saw many teams their own shirts and they were in good spirits as well.  We got off and before entering the main hall to collect our t-shirts, I saw someone handing off a drawstring bag.  I mentioned that anything we pick-up, we have to carry with us, drawing big laughter from a guy nearby.  The festivities were on in the hall, with a guy on microphone encouraging everyone and other things that one usually sees at the start.  I picked up my ‘Jimmy Fund’ cap and my shirt, and after the usual struggles with getting the bib on with pins, I wrote a name and then put the “I walk in honor of” sticker behind my bib.  I was ready to go.

It wasn't even daybreak yet

My and buddy went to the start line and after a few pictures, set off at 6:15 am, the same time as last year.  It was cold and I was thankful for having a jacket and track pants.  My buddy was in shorts and was feeling the chill.  A temperature check told us it was 36 and yeah, that is nippy.  As we walked down ‘Route 135’, unlike last year, I was not listening to anything and so could hear people chatting around us.  For example, there was a group of ladies who was talking about everything under the sun ranging from kids to "Mergers & Acquisitions".  They breezed past us and I mentioned to my buddy that they would probably talk non-top all the way to Boston.  We covered the initial couple of miles and went past the first “refueling station” easily – stopping to high-five a group of enthusiastic kids who put stickers on our bibs.  My buddy’s hand was freezing and was swelling up, though once the sun came out he felt better.

My supporter from last year

We were going past the mile markers and as last year there were stories of kids on it.  It was inspirational and as my friend said later, no matter what pain we would go through, their journey was worst.  I saw some familiar sights from last year, including the guy with the 3-legged 'Golden Retriever'.  The poor dog looked tired and was sleeping.  I told the guy that I remembered them from last year and took the pup’s picture.  A couple of girls near us asked the guy if he taught in a college and when he said that he did, they said that they remembered him from their time there.  A lot of people had come out to cheer for us and besides the normal stations; some folks had their own snacks and drinks stands.

The miles kept rolling by and we were chatting to pass the time.  Once the sun came out around "Mile 8", I took off my jacket since it was warming up.  ‘Route 135’ kept going and soon we got to “Natick Town Center”, which has one of the bigger refreshment stations.  We took a brief halt there so that my buddy could change his socks and then we were on our way.  We walked through some other towns, always with people cheering, and eventually passed the halfway mark.  Som’s wife Resh was doing the half marathon and she had set off from here hours before.  In fact, her pace was excellent and certainly faster than us.

The Miles kept rolling by

We were receiving constant texts of encouragement from our friends and we were sending pictures back.  We turned on to ‘Washington Avenue’ and stopped for lunch at "Mile 16", the same big tent as last year.  I told my buddy that it would be a tough stretch from now on and no kidding.  This short stop for lunch had stiffened our muscles and now I was laboring, feeling a slight cramp on my soles.  We were now listening to music - or audio book in my case - and so were walking a few yards apart, with Som leading.  ‘Commonwealth Avenue’ was brutal for me and we also had traffic lights to deal with, though there were some cops helping us out by regulating traffic.  There was an obnoxious guy who was riding a bike around us in support of his friend and was quite a nuisance.  We went up the “Heartbreak Hill” – with a few breaks – and it was tough.  But eventually we turned to see ‘Boston College’ and now it was the final 5 mile stretch.

Resh had reached hours before us – breezing through her half marathon.  We set off on ‘Beacon Street’ and now we were on the streets of Boston downtown.  We even helped a few ‘Boston College’ girls with their grocery bag adjustments, since one looked like she was about to drop them.  The mile markers were now like an oasis and my buddy who had done 18 miles before as practice, was realizing that the last 8 miles are not that easy.  He was also following his progress on a “Fitbit” watch, though it lost power at "Mile 21".  At "Mile 24" refueling station we saw a truck with two TVs showing ‘Patriots’ game and so we stopped to watch a drive and then set off again.  We came to "Mile 25" under the famous ‘CITGO’ sign outside 'Fenway Park'  and it was right during the end of a ‘Red Sox’ game and so several fans were now on the same path as us. 

It took a long time, but we finished

We navigated the foot traffic on ‘Beacon Street’ till we saw a sign saying "25.6 Miles". The last mile felt like 2 - and I think it was more than a mile - as we kept expecting to see the “Finish” sign around every corner.  Finally, after 10.5 hours – one more than last year – we finished together, with our other buddies applauding. One of our friend's little girl gave us our medals and then we took pictures before sitting down to reflect.  It had been a great achievement but as Som said, nothing compared to what the patients and caregivers at ‘Dana Farber Jimmy Fund’ go through every day. Will I do it again next year?  Your guess is as good as mine.

Lakeview Seniors Pet Therapy

Location: Lakeview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

Date: Monday, September 21, 2015; 6:15-7:45 pm

Roses for M'lady

Last week when I was here, I had promised Emma that I would get her flowers and so I stopped to buy some Red Roses before the project.  She was in the Bingo room and as I gave them to her, she said "Oh they're nice".  She was trying to poke into the bouquet's interior, but I told her to keep them aside till she went back to her room.  I went back to where the pets were assembled and saw that Robyn was there with Bruce and June.  Charta was also present, along with a cute girl pup who looked happy to be here.  Also in attendance was a beautiful kitty called Oona.  As the dogs went to get treats from folks in the Bingo room, Robyn asked if I could look after June tonight – without Robyn walking with us.  I said that as long as June was willing, I would be delighted to do so. 

I was paired with another volunteer Lisa, and the 3 of us set off to go to the 2^nd floor.  Right away it was apparent that June wasn't too happy to be separated from Bruce and was dragging, so much so that I had to carry her.  A gentleman in the corridor who loves dogs put June on his lap and asked the usual questions like how old etc.  We stopped to see another lady and when I asked if she wanted to pet June, she asked if the dogs were for sale!  I said no, though she loved visiting with June anyways. She told us that she owned 2 dogs who were pure bred and worth $1000 each.  She said that they were really tiny and extremely well behaved.

Oona

Next, we went to see Loritta and as usual I jokingly asked, "What's new?" She said something under her breath and it very much sounded like a curse.  But Loritta is always in great spirits and I told Lisa about her son.  Loritta stepped in to say how he had gone down south chasing, well, “pussy” – her word, not mine!  I knew from last week that he was visiting Chicago and so asked if he had come to see her. She said no, he was busy with friends.  As if speaking of the devil, her son came in and I found him to be a pleasant guy. I said that I had heard a lot about him and he laughed, thanking us for coming as we left.

June was whining and dragging me out of the room, and for good reason since Bruce and Robyn were in the corridor.  Looking at her, we decided to continue together.  We went over to see David and put June on his bed so that he could go to work on her.  She looked pleased as a punch and was smiling as she got a good rubdown.  David seemed in a bright mood and said that it had been his birthday a couple of days ago.  He even showed us flowers from a lady friend.  As we left him, Robyn mentioned that he was more coherent than before and how he had come here to recover from a severe head and brain trauma from a motorcycle accident 5 years ago. 

Next stop was with Jerry, and both Bruce and June were taking turns at getting treats, though in a well behaved manner.  Bruce’s hearing is really good, compensating for his lack of sight, and he was grabbing treats from Jerry’s hand quite easily.  We then went to see Hannah and she said that there was no news from her lawyer.  She was in good spirits though and told the new volunteers about her book, Johnny B, her modelling career as an extra – telling us to register with her talent agency.  Robyn asked about her exercise routine and she said she was doing it diligently.  Before leaving I told her about my travels and she said she loved travelling when she was young, living in Hollywood.  She said that she was even spotted by Howard Hughes before her mother made her move back!

Final stop was to see Polly and she was as chatty as ever.  I said that I had stopped by last week but she was in the bathroom.  She said that moving forward she would never be in bathroom during this time.  We chatted for some more time and then it was time to leave.  I had not been able to see Linda and discuss books, but had a good visit nevertheless.  I pitched some other Chicago Cares programs to Lisa and after she had left, Robyn told me that June had been diagnosed with cancer today and would need surgery soon.  I said that I hoped she recovered soon because that’s the last thing June and Bruce need at this stage.

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

Pour Beer At Taco Fest

Location: Southport

Date: Sunday, September 20, 2015; 2:00-6:00 pm

Amanda had signed us up to do this “street festival” and we arrived at 1:45 pm for our check-in with a guy who looked at us suspiciously and asked which group we were affiliated with.  After saying that we weren’t with anyone, he finally gave us the “staff” bracelets and sent us to find someone called Carolina at the first beer tent.  There were 2 such tents at either end of the strip where the festival was being conducted and both were near the music stage.  At least we would be entertained.  We found Carolina and she asked if I could pour.  I said that I hadn’t done so before but since Amanda was pouring as well, I would join her in the activity.  After all, I had spent a career observing bartenders doing it!

Beer and Taco's - Recipe for a great afternoon

There were about 12 types of beer and Amanda and I were responsible for 6 of the so called “craft beers” – though all were by ‘Sam Adams’.  Since they were higher in “Alcohol content”, we were pouring them in smaller containers than the other 6 beers, which were in bigger cups.  The nozzles were attached to some sort of a trailer and the kegs were at the back.  I was struggling with it at the beginning, and there was a lot of foaming.  Amanda is good at this and coached me on the pull, wrist position and the release.  One of the beers was a “nitro” and the pour on this one was very different. Unlike the other beer, you had to be extremely careful and slow when you poured this.  It took me a long time to get this right and even then I had to put several glasses away to allow them to “settle”. 

Our strategy was to have 2 of each type ready to go on the table.  As the people in the front came over and picked a glass up, we would replace that with another.  I kept getting better with practice and soon it became second nature, though there were a few for which I needed time to settle the foam.  In fact, at one stage watching me pour the “nitro”, Carolina came over and said that she hoped someone as skilled would replace me.  Well then!  In terms of the beer, I had “Stout”, a “Hefeweizen” and a “Cherry Nitro”, which had a lovely looking red hue.  It was fun for me and Amanda to track which beer was more popular with the attendees.  Traditional stuff at the other end was more popular, though as the afternoon wore on, our specialized ones were being ordered as well.  At one stage one of the beer “tapped out” and caused a minor “beer explosion”.  But the process was fast moving and all we had to do was tell Carolina and she got someone to fix it. 

The crowd increased as the afternoon progressed and I was pleased to see plenty of dogs and kids, making this a family outing.  We were right outside the ‘CTA’ exit, meaning all the visitors who got off the train were stopping at our station first.  More importantly, since we were next to one of the music stages we spent the afternoon listening to the “90s cover bands”, making this one of the more pleasant project experiences.  The place smelled of tacos and we were looking forward to the end of our shift, so that we could go and sample.  I asked Carolina for recommendations and she told us about 2 or 3 places that we should visit.  One of the gentlemen working with us was doing his best sales pitch to customers and engaged them in discussions around their selections.  Well, more so with women than men.  At 6 pm our replacements arrived, including some professional bartenders - for whom I had a new found appreciation. We were ready to go explore the fair and it had been a nice activity on a nice day. Plus, I had a crash course in the art of beer pouring.  One never knows when that may come in handy.

Senior Breakfast Club

Location: Mary Hartwell Catherwood Apartments

Date: Saturday, September 19, 2015; 9:00 am-12:00 pm

It had been winter when I was here last and the sidewalks had been covered with snow and ice.  While that wasn’t the problem now, there were water puddles that required some navigation.  Well, there’s never an easy way to get here.  I arrived to see that the only regulars were LaKieth and his mom.  All the other folks have moved on.  One senior stopped to say hi and said she loved here now.  It took me a moment to recognize her but she was one of the fun ladies from ‘Judge Fisher’, having been displaced due to construction there.  It was a pity that her buddy wasn’t here with her.

The Volunteer leader Jack asked me to get working on the hash browns. It's a narrow stove and next to my burner were the eggs and on the back side, we started the bacon.  One thing that is true about this place is that the people are resourceful, and they had electric pots and pans in other areas doing hash browns and bacon as well. As usual. LaKeith’s mom had biscuits in the oven.  I chatted with a guy next to me who was making the bacon.  He was a student from China, doing his masters at ‘IIT’.  He said that since he didn't eat bacon, he had no idea how to cook it.  His lack of cooking skills were quite evident as he put a lot of non-stick spray in the pan, and coupled with the bacon grease that was lot of fat in which the bacon strips were swimming. But he eventually got it right and started doing a good job. 

There were 2 kids in attendance with their mom and it’s always great to see kids getting involved in the community through their parents.  The girl was breaking eggs and the boy was serving juice.  Franklin, who I knew from my ‘One Brick’ days, joined us to do the eggs.  Soon the eggs were done and so I washed my pan and went to chat with the lady from ‘Judge Fisher’.  She told me that Jason was back and had shown her the pictures of his wife, though it would still be some time before she was able to come to the US.  I asked about her friend and she said she too may have to move soon.  I said that hopefully she join her and the 2 of them can get into mischief over here.  I went back to help serve and since LaKieth and his mom had left, we were now short on people. I doubled up by serving bacon using my left hand and hash browns using my right.  We had plenty of eggs and bacon but not a lot of biscuits and hash browns.  In the end we ran out of biscuits with 5 plates to go and so I heaped loads of bacon on those, saying that it ought to keep them happy!

Bingo prizes

Jack would be calling the bingo and there were the usual shampoos etc. and 2 grand “coverall” prizes – detergents, which are popular.  I sat next to my buddy and while she was vocal, the absence of her friend made her less so than usual.  There were couple of seniors who did not speak English and another lady asked me to help one of them.  I started peeking at her chart but after a point she just nudged them towards me.  I was marking them, though she would occasionally do a number if I was a bit slow.  My buddy from ‘Judge Fisher’ won on first round and picked a shampoo.  On the other hand, the lady whom I was helping had no luck, missing out several times owing to lack of a single number, even during the “coverall”.  

The “coverall” was getting competitive, with several folks claiming that they were close.  Jack said that in case of multiple winners, the first hand to go up would win, putting a lot of pressure on the volunteers to spot, though that fortunately did not happen.  In the end my buddy lady said that she would see me over at ‘Judge Fisher’ soon, though I said that probably not till December.  I took the trash out, put away the bingo boards and prepared to leave.  It has been good to come here, and especially see that lady I knew.  Also, the kids with their mom had been fantastic.  They had worked hard and as I left, I saw that the boy was playing classical music on the piano – the same piano that one of the residents whom I had befriended in the past used to play.  He would have been proud.

Adler After Dark

Location: Adler Planetarium

Date: Thursday, September 17, 2015; 5:30-10:00 pm

Tonight’s theme was “Game On” and as can be deduced, it was all about Video Games. Plus, it was the end of the “Summer Hours”, meaning the doors would open at 6 pm instead of 6:30.  I arrived and went to the pizza classroom after checking in.  The usual suspects were there and I caught up with them till Michael came in.  We went on the tour and many activities were from last month were being repeated, including “Makey Makey”, “Zip Line Racer” and “Air Ship Challenge”.  Besides that, there was a 3-D “Virtual Reality” game; including something called “Google Cardboard”, and in the ‘Johnson Theatre’ there were video game consoles with the display on the big screen!  I could immediately tell that the “Virtual Reality” game would draw huge lines and that could be an issue.  The “Airship Challenge” had been tweaked to be a timed game and the fastest time to land the balloon in the square would win 4 tickets to a future event.

Aah, Video Games night

I had “Zip Line Racer” from 6-7, “Virtual Reality” from 7-8, “Pocket Science” - where I said that I would do “Smelly Space” - from 8-9 and finally “Airship Challenge” from 9-10.  I arrived at the “Community Design Lab” for my first shift and was paired with another volunteer.  The buckets with all ‘Lego’ pieces were there, as were the 3 “Ziplines” with different slopes.  Even though we had been open for some time, no one was coming in and so I went out to recruit people.  I convinced 2 guys to come in and they were totally engaged in the activity.  The trick was to ensure that not only did the contraption they built reach the other end, but the ‘Lego’ figure inside “survived” at the end.  Soon other people came in and the place was buzzing, with every one totally immersed in the activity and were using different designs in order to get their figure across. It was fun to see people’s choice of the figurine.  Some chose pirates - whom they didn’t mind killing off - a well-dressed man in tuxedo, “Gandalf”, and a man in moustache which one girl named “François”!  I was walking about, chatting with the people and commenting on designs.  Some of them were really cool and people had put a lot of thought into them, having something like a parachute to create drag, and even longer vehicles to protect the figure from a crash. 

At 7 pm I left the enthusiastic crowd to go over to the “Virtual Reality” station.  There was a huge line waiting to try this and so we had some “Google Cardboard” things for them to play with while they waited.  The idea was to put your “smart phone” in it and either download an app or go to ‘YouTube’ and enter “#360”.  Then as you look through the viewfinder, you get a feeling like you are in a virtual setting.  I was explaining this to the guests and quickly realized that the ‘YouTube’ concept wasn’t working on ‘iPhone’ but only on ‘Android’ devices.  For those people I was telling them to download the app.  People loved this and I had to give out the ‘Wi-Fi’ name since there was no signal downstairs.  Once all of them got on the network, the bandwidth choked as expected and I was requesting them to get off the network once they had finished downloading.  It was fun activity for the crowd as they waited, and for some it would be as long as 30-40 minutes.  The funniest moment however was for a guy who stood in the line for 5 minutes before asking what the line was for!

At 8 pm I went down to the staff area and collected “Smelly Space”.  Considering there was already a big line at “Virtual Reality”, I started by engaging people there - though the machine had given up and so the line was dwindling.  As usual people were amazed at the premise of “Smelly Space”, but would also get to the right answer by saying things like “spectroscopy” or “light” or “chemicals”.  I went upstairs and saw that a girl was solving the “Rubik’s Cube” and with a lot of flair.  I told her friends that it was time to check if she really was that smart.  Well, she was since I did the routine with them and not only did she get the smells, but also was closest to the real answer.  I engaged few other people including a group of 4 who were trying to be obnoxiously funny but listened to the explanation anyways.

My last shift was at “Air Ship Challenge”, but as I got there, the facilitator told me that he was shutting it down soon.  The volunteers were maintaining a clipboard with names of all the people who had signed up to participate and I inherited that.  I saw that there was only one team left since we had stopped taking down names.  That team tried but couldn’t land the balloon in the allocated time of 2 minutes.  That was true of many others who showed up as “DNF”, though there were several who had managed to land.  In fact, the fastest time was 21 seconds, which was quite impressive.  I helped the facilitator break-down the apparatus, as he let Helium out of the balloon, taking an occasional “hit” in order to amuse the crowd - many of the crowd members also doing the same. 

I handed the clipboard to Michael and then continued with my “Smelly Space” for a few more people. Then Michael asked me to go back to “Zipline Racer” room to help clean.  The room was like a warzone with tiny pieces everywhere.  I started the clean-up with another volunteer and it almost took us 30 minutes.  We weren’t separating the pieces into the components and a staff member said that it would be for an intern to do that.  I came down, logged off, and chatted with a telescope operator before leaving; another one in the books.

Dinner At The Wells Street Cafe

Location: Breaking Bread Ministries/LaSalle Street Church

Date: Wednesday, September 16, 2015; 5:45-8:15 pm

I had missed my shift on the 1^st Wednesday and would be missing the next two first Wednesday's as well. So I asked Marianne if I could come any other week and she said that she could use me this week.  I arrived to see that there were no other volunteers around and it was just me and her. She said that this was it for now.  Fortunately, a lot of regulars arrived including Hannah and Joe.  In fact Marianne said that this was an “All Star Crew”.  My next surprise was learning that we now had a new chef!  It seems that Chef Dani had started a new job and so it was our 3^rd chef this year. His name was Dan and he seemed like a nice guy, and was here with his wife Kathy.

Today's menu

He put me on opening cans of tomatoes and tomato sauce, of which there were several.  I opened them all and collected the contents in a big vessel.  All of this was eventually going into a meat sauce.  The other things on the menu were spaghetti, peas and carrots in cream sauce and pretzel roll with garlic butter. Next, I opened up cans of the said peas that were going in with the carrots, as Hannah and another volunteer cut the pretzel bread and put butter on it.  I went outside and saw that one of our regular guests was there and he said that he hadn’t been here for a few weeks.  Today, the menu had been posted for the guests to see as they came in and he and I went to take a look.  “No meat”, he said.  Well, I said that the meat was in the sauce.  “No meat”, he repeated and laughed.  I left to finish up in kitchen but not before he asked how to pronounce my name and practiced.

I went around refilling water while the other volunteers were making progress on the food.  Since everyone was a veteran, Marianne did not have to give a speech.  She was however handing out presents like aprons, t-shirts and mugs.  I then went around and put plastic knives and forks on the tables.  We were using all disposables today since the dishwasher wasn’t working.  Chef asked if I could help chop the salad and I said that I was bad with knives and would probably end up cutting myself.  He laughed and his wife took over.  I helped plate the salads and then we were ready to go.  I was plating today and would be putting the pretzel rolls on the plate after it came to me, already with Pasta and creamed veggies on it.  It looked like we had a lot of food today, which was great. 

After the first round, the guests lined up and I was maintaining the count.  We had a lot of people come and since there was so much food, we were being generous with our portions.  In fact, Marianne was saying that until they stay stop, we would keep serving on the plate.  I went over to stack the chairs and help with the cleanup.  Since we did not have real plates, it was a fast turnaround.  I said bye to Marianne and left.  It seems like there are a lot of changes happening, but she is the constant.  She had asked earlier if I was sad and I had said that happiness and sadness are overrated in their longevity. They really are.

Lakeview Seniors Pet Therapy

Location: Lakeview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

Date: Monday, September 14, 2015; 6:15-8:45 pm

It was Fall time at Lakeview Nursing

My friend Amanda had signed up for this one and so I decided to accompany her and dropped out of another project for which I had signed up.  We arrived to see that Charta was there along with a new ‘English Bulldog’ named Al.  He was friendly, though Charta scared him with her aggressive display of affection.  There was also a cat in attendance, a beautiful creature named Gracie.  Her owner said that we could pet her and Gracie was nice about it.  She had the loveliest fur and I told Fran – who was leading today – to pair Amanda with Gracie.  I went inside the Bingo room, which had been decorated for Fall, and met Jim, Jack and Larry who shook my hand.  Jim asked if I was with the dogs and I said that I was.  Emma came in she was a bit more chirpy than usually.  Holly on the other hand was looking a bit off and Josie said that one of her daughters had passed today.  Holly had Gracie in her arm and was stroking her, with Gracie looking content.  Holly said, “She knows how I feel” and while that was little comfort, I was glad that Holly had shown up for Bingo.

Fran made the assignments and I was paired with Al.  We were starting on 1^st floor and as usual I started going in the rooms.  To my surprise many people actually wanted to meet with us.  There was a young woman in one of the rooms and she talked about how Al was making her miss her puppy.  We moved on and another lady gave Al some meat from her plate and he was ecstatic.  His owner told me that looking for food was his favorite activity and I said “mine too”.  We had couple more visits and then moved on to the 2^nd floor.  Our first stop was with David and he proceeded to give Al a rubdown just as I had predicted, with Al enjoying every moment of it.  We went to see Polly, but she was with the nurse and so proceeded to Loritta’s room.  Loritta was in top form and I asked if she had heard from her son lately.  It seems that he and his wife were here - visiting from Georgia - and would be stopping by later in the evening.  She still talked about how she had taken away her son from her and we laughed at this.  It is always good to see her in in such spirits.

We stopped at another room and there was Linda, the lady from Hannah’s room, who loved reading.  She had moved here and I asked why.  She said that she had requested a room with a view and now she had one, albeit a boring one.  She was reading some mystery novel and we chatted about it.  She said that she was running out of good books.  She asked what I was reading and I told her about my audio book and reading of the “Shadow of the Wind” in September and how it was my 5^th year doing so.  “It helps me remember my life”, I said.  In the meanwhile, Al was staying away and wasn’t in the mood to come closer.  His owner had to lift all 60 pounds of him for Linda to touch Al.  Next up was Jerry on the 3^rd floor and again it was a chore getting Al up on his bed.  However, once Al saw the bacon treats, he was all over them and came alive. We then went to see Hannah and she was chatty as usual, telling me that her lawyers would have a verdict soon on her book, even showing me a letter that she had written to them.  She said that two psychologists told her that she was meant to write books and it looks like she truly believes in it.  I said that I looked forward to the good news, but in either case she had done something to be proud of.

It was time and Al was tired by now.  We came down and after they had left, I went over to drop Emma to her room.  She had not won tonight, though her spirits were still high.  Before I could take her away, the Volunteer leader gave her a pack of 3 tissues and Emma was thrilled, not least with the bright colored packs.  I asked if she wanted me to open them and she of course said yes.  She was delighted when I did so and kept saying “that’s nice”.  I dropped her in the corridor and came back down but not before she called me “Sweet”; first time in 3 years that she had done so.  I came down and saw that Jack needed to be dropped off to his room as well.  He said that he had to make a stop on the way on 2^nd floor and it was to drop off his Bingo prize, “peanut butter cookies”, with some lady.  She was pleased to see him and to receive the present.  She asked Jack if he got his “butterscotch hard candy” and he said that he had won just once.  She said that next week he better get that for himself rather than something for her and he said “maybe”.  Way to go Jack!  Definitely looks like there are some sparks here.

I dropped him off and saw that Amanda was on the 3^rd floor as well.  As we were coming down, we saw that Emma was still waiting to be put to bed.  We chatted with her and she was talking about her youth, and about her parents.  She mentioned how her father was strong and would carry her everywhere.  She said that her mom was German and we started talking about German food, at which Emma mentioned “sauerkraut and potatoes”.  She was indeed sharp and talked a lot about her family.  She also mentioned how someone was nice enough to open the tissue paper for her – me - and how he had brought her there - me again.  The nurse came to take her and I said to her that she was still my favorite girl.

Amanda wanted to stop and see Faye and she was coherent as well.  She talked about some wound that she had on her forehead and that was because she kept picking at it.  A friendly nurse came and she scolded Faye for doing that, but it was all good natured.  I said that we should put a cone around Faye’s neck like a cat!  She had some pictures on her night stand and they were of her daughters when they were little.  She said that they were 18 years old now, though in another picture they looked older.  Amanda said that Faye gets stuck in time and always at different times in her life.  We spent some time with her and then left.  It had been a great evening and I had been able to spend more time with Emma than before.  Plus she had called me “Sweet”.

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

American Cancer Society Making Strides Steering Committee: Southside Kick-Off

Location: Parkway Ballroom

Date: Saturday, August 29, 2015; 11:00 am-3:00 pm

Another year, another "Kickoff"

Unlike breakfast from the previous years, this time we had 2 "Kickoff’s" one in the city at ‘Hard Rock Café’ and another one on the “Southside”.  I had missed the first one since I was travelling, but I volunteered for this one.  I took an ‘Uber’ and arrived to see that signs had been posted to lead us upstairs.  The space itself was quite nice and very artistic.  The place was buzzing and I saw that at the "check-in" table some ladies were putting together some bags for team leads.  I went inside to see that the staff members, Allyson, Katherine, Carrie and Jessie, were directing traffic.  The ballroom was really good and various stations were lined up all along the sides, including a “Photobooth”, “Registration”, 'ACS CAN' and “Luminaria”, which was being manned by a a mom and her son.  He was excited and running about the room, taking it in. 

The "Birthday Cake"

There was a “Styrofoam Cake” with a pink glow stick in it.  The idea was to get survivors to put in more glow sticks and make it like a birthday cake since ‘ACS’ motto has always been “sponsor of more birthdays”.  Katherine said that I would be at “Check-in” and the job was quite simple.  When people came in, check their name against the list.  If their name was in “Red”, they were a “Team Captain” and we were to give them the bag.  If it was in “Green”, they were a “Pace Setter” and got a sticker.  If the name wasn’t on the list, we were to get them to fill out a form.  Then we were to give them a name tag and a form for “Scavenger Hunt”.  The idea was to get them to go to every station and get the person there to initial the form.  At the end they were to submit the forma and there would be a drawing where the prize was a “care package”.  Finally, we were to also give them a card to fill out for the “Hope Wall” where they write their name on it.  Besides me, there would be 2 others posted here.  As I looked at the list, I saw that my name was mentioned as a “Team Captain” as well!

Although the event was at noon, people had started coming in before 11:30 am.  I started by greeting them and following the protocol as outlined.  The inside room wasn’t yet set-up and so we had to ask them to wait for a bit, but they were able to go inside soon.  The elevator wasn’t working and it was a shame since some ladies were walking with a cane and were struggling to come up the stairs.  But they were in good spirits and smiling.  Many of the ladies wanted the bag that we had for the “Team Captain” and we had to politely decline.  People were coming in and the 3 of us were very busy.  Plus, many weren’t on the list and we were requesting them to fill out the form, which took some time.

Carrie came and gave us 4 names, who were the speakers today and upon their arrival, we were to ask them to go meet Carrie.  Also, one of the ladies had 2 boxes to pick up while the other was an ‘ABC’ anchor.  The 4 ladies arrived and the one with the 2 boxes said that she would pick them up later.  The TV anchor had come with her daughter, who was just one of the many with kids present – which was our intention with this event.  People seemed to be interested in the “Scavenger Hunt” and many came back to return the filled form.  We had to tell them that they had to give it at the “Luminaria” table inside. 

We had a great turnout

It was noon and Carrie said that we could come and see the program if we wanted.  The speeches began and the ‘ABC’ anchor spoke about her association with “Making Strides” for 14 years.  She was really good at getting the crowd going and the energy inside the room was quite high.  I looked around and many had put up their cards on the “Hope Wall”.  The “Photo Booth” was going well and ‘ACS CAN’ was signing up a lot of people as well.  I was going out periodically to sign up some of the late comers.  However, I did manage to listen to one of the “Survivor” stories and it was heartfelt and funny.  The program was over soon and many came over to get the bags saying they were “Team Captains”.  The lady with the 2 boxes asked if she could get some help carrying the boxes to the car and of course it was me doing that.  I came back up and Allyson asked for my help in cleanup.  I put some of the things in boxes and then it was time to leave.  The "kickoff" had been a big success with almost 150 attendees.  Now it was on to the actual walk.

Job Coaching

Location: Open Door Shelter

Date: Monday, August 24, 2015; 6:45-8:30 pm

Two weeks ago I was supposed to lead and had planned the entire session.  I was even wearing a suit to demonstrate professionalism in a work environment.  However, when I arrived there, the lights were out and so they made us leave.  Apparently they did not want any liability.  Since my volunteers had already arrived, I had spoken with them about the place and urged them to return.  I had also mentioned that I would pass on the lesson to the leader with whom I had switched weeks.  But then there was a fiasco when I wrote to that leader, since they had thought that not only was I covering for them, but would also lead in my own slot as well.  After corresponding with Amy, I decided to lead this one and dropped out of another project that I had signed up for.  Thank the heavens that I had written to the leader, else volunteers would have come and not known what to do.

One of our activities for this evening

As usual, after sending my welcome email people started dropping off.  I recruited my colleague Katie and we arrived at the site just before 6:30.  Our activities for tonight were “Compass Point Assessment” – same as “Myers Briggs” or “DISC Analysis”, but with “North”, “South”, “East” and “West” aligning with personality styles.  The main lesson was how to prepare for a “Promotional Interview”, where you are not necessarily applying for a specific job.  Once all of my volunteers had assembled, we went upstairs and I gathered the youth together at the table.  For introductions, I said that we should say our name and then what was our favorite thing about the “Fall” season.  One youth was very enthusiastic to go first and so I said that we would start with her.  She said that her favorite thing was “Halloween”.  A couple of folks said “Color of leaves”, which was to be expected.  Some had birthdays and some said Thanksgiving.  A few said that they did not like the season and I said that they could say that their favorite thing was that “Winter” was on its way!  I said that my favorite thing was the month of October, saying that I am yet to have a bad October and I love everything about it. 

I said that we had a lot to cover and so I paired up the youth with the volunteers using a number system - 1’s paired with 1’s etc. - and said that rather than doing the “ice breaker” exercise separately and getting back together, we would all be doing it at the same time.  People liked this and we started with the “Compass Point Assessment”, where  I asked the volunteers to do it along with the youth.  While it was a fun exercise, there were a lot of questions that needed to be answered in order to get the statistical analysis and some people were getting a bit impatient.  Some questions were tricky since there were 2 choices and both made sense.  I encouraged them to focus more on the professional context.  The youth were having a good time with this exercise and when their results were announced, were saying things like “It’s totally me”.  In one of the groups we had a male who finished with a “Direct style” and female with a “Caring style”.  She said that she would never be his boss and I said that it wasn’t true since there was a way through which someone with her style could be a leader or even a manager and she just need to have the right people in their team.  I mentioned how this was so that people learn how to respond to each other where the one with “Caring style” need to keep their communication with “Direct” people to the point and the one with “Direct style” need to understand that their personality can cause feelings to get hurt. 

We moved to the informational interview session and people were writing down some questions since I had said that the youth should use the questions to interview the volunteers and find out more about their careers.  One girl who was with Katie was totally into it and writing pages and pages of notes.  I walked about and asked some folks what they wanted to be when they grew up.  One said a “Software Engineer” some wanted to go into “Child Care”.  This was a good exercise and youth seemed engaged.  With 10 minutes to go, I called everyone together for reflection.  As with other times, I took the usual route of handing out candy for every comment and we had some good ones from the youth, including deep analysis on personality types.  It seemed like everyone had learnt something.  I did a reflection with the volunteers and the only criticism was the length of the personality quiz.  Other than that, everyone had a good time.  Claire would be back next month and thus ended another summer of me as a substitute.