Parkview #2 1/24/09

[As transcripted from my journal]

1/24/09 12:40pm

"Yesterday, Friday, I went to Parkview for the 2nd official time. Brandon was sick and couldn't make it. I had a short moment where I wanted to take the easy way out and just not go. It would save me the trouble of catching MITS buses and walking in the cold, I thought. I had to work from 10-1pm and after I ate at home I came back to campus at 2:15 to get some things done first (turn in course-add registration form and drop off keys to room mate). Activities time starts at 2:30pm and it was almost that time already. I also had several things that I could start on like the AT&T Challenge for CICS and mixing songs I would like to have done soon. I thought back to my freshman year in high school for a split second and remembered my hardcore tennis coach Mischler and how he said to 'stick to the path' & 'no shortcuts' & 'shoulda, coulda, woulda' (although his 'stick to the path' was literal, he would yell at us if we didn't stay on side walks to cut through grass to get some where quicker).



I remembered some of the reasons I'm going there in the first place (e.g., interact with residents to develop relationships and let them know they are important and people (especially God) loves them and values them, to server and to see change and be changed).

I found the bus stop and I thought it couled be a while since it only comes every 30 min. I sat on the ground and about 5 min. later the MITS bus was there and I was in the nursing home just minutes later.

I walked in around 2:45pm and they were playing bingo (about 15 people). I sat down next to probably the most normal, youngest, a black lady. She may be about 60. The bingo cards are really big and she had 4. I sat with her and watched and helped her play.

It made me smile after ever few spaces were called. People are a little hard of hearing and will yell out questioning what the number was. The lady I sat with is Ellen. She carried on some small talk as she played. She had better hearing than anyone in there I would think. She told me about some serious bingo places she has been to, unlike this one. She said 'people don't play right, they keep talking and then no one can hear any numbers'. The talking wasn't that bad but it was enough to miss a number. They actually get paid in quarters for winning. They seemed to take it fairly seriously, many in good fun though. About 30 min. later they were done with bingo and I helped pickup all the game boards and chips. Also, while Ellen played she would sorta talk to herself as she searched her boards.

As I turned in all the parts, I walked around looking for someone to talk with or something to do. AFter a few steps on of the other bingo players said something to me, so I sat next to her to talk. There were about 5 people left out in the main dinning 'living room' space. (oh, it was also funny/cute when a little old lady said 'bingo!' in a very faint, confident voice.) One of the other volunteers, younger girl, was tehre along with Laura, called 'Grandma' by some for her old age (90ish?). The lady I sat with was Pauline and she had to be close to 90 as well.

She asked if I would like to play Uno, "Yes!" I would. I laughed because she just reached into her wheel chair and whipped out a deck that looked like it was heavily used. Very worn. Then she grabbed an off brand mouth wash bottle. I thought she was going to rinse her teeth, if any, right there! It turns out that is used as an arrow to point which direction the game is going for uno. When someone throws down a reverse card she flips it so as not to forget the direction. So we started a 4-player game and I was the designated shuffler. I could keep going into detail but I really enjoyed playing for about 2.5 hours.

I also came to find out that the man I met last time, Constant, isn't well received or like. He never looks sad or mad. he is either somewhat expressionaless or has a smile. He also doesn't get many visitors. He will roll up in his wheel chair close to people and either that alone or he may bump them with is feet upsets them. This happened several times during Uno. At first I thought they were just joking and teasing when they raised their voices and told him to get away and they he makes them mad and why does he have to torture them to death, etc.

Whenever he got too close it sounded like a knife fight was about to go down by the way they reacted. So I would like to get to know the situation better and why they react this way and why Constant does it. Constant doesn't really talk at all, so it may be hard to dialogue.

I enjoyed my time there and look forward to knowing them better and helping out. When I was waiting outside of Parkview for the bus, I started to think, I had fun and I am getting to know them better and help out, but is that all it is? Am I only able to have fun with them once a week and that's it? Many of them aren't capable of good discussions and many are at least to a point. I started wondering if I was 'wasting' my time by just having fun with them. And then I realized that there is potential for deeper friendships and serving Parkview and its residents. I don't know where this will all lead, but I want to trust that God will use me to step out in faith and help people see the Kingdom of God, including myself."