Wednesday morning was very stressful for me. I woke up 15 mins
later than usual, and the kids decided to be at their crankiest best all
morning. Even though our cook aunty came to help me, I was late in getting
everything ready for the day. The son was hitting the daughter with a big glass
bowl on her head, the daughter was throwing tantrums as I refused tablet time
for her, and packing lunches took way longer than usual.
We DID finally get out of the door, even
if we were very late. Throughout the chaos, I kept my cool. Not once did I
raise my voice, or threaten the kids, or give them timeout, or spank them. I
felt quite proud of that.
After dropping the kids off, I headed to
the low-income retirement home in town. I reached "on time" at the
venue for a planned visit with a few of my colleagues, which itself was an
accomplishment, considering the chaos I went through in the morning. I had the
goodies prepped and ready the previous night (again a pat on the back for that
:)) so I went in, not knowing what to expect.
The oldies were all waiting for us. They
did not know who was coming, and what they were bringing. We planned this visit
as a last minute thing for this holiday season, based on an email thread from
an employee whose mom lives at this facility. We decided to take
"treats" - homemade or store-bought, and a "rose" for each
person.
Once the room was full and we had the
table all set up, we greeted everyone. We gave a "rose" along with
holiday wishes to each person, followed by cookies, and chocolates, and
gingerbread, and other goodies. They were all SO happy and pleased. Some took
seconds, some saved chocolates like "ferrero rocher" for eating later
in their rooms, some had tears in their eyes on seeing the generosity.
And, I got to chat with a few people as
well - the part I was most looking forward to.
The first was this beautiful 90-year old
lady, who was so worried about her hairdo being PERFECT for pictures. She made
us delete so many pictures before approving the one below :). She worked her
entire life for the federal government, as a database administrator (so
amazing), and is still pretty active for her age. She described herself as an
avid reader, and I got a feeling I would get along with her really well.
The next was this World War II Veteran,
who spent most of her army life serving in FIJI. A classic Alzheimer's patient,
she kept asking me "where are you from" every couple of minutes. Not
once was I bothered by it. She was born in 1923 (according to her) so that
makes her 90 years old as well. After retiring from the army, she was a high
school teacher in the highly ranked Fullerton School District in LA. She had
lots of stories to share from her World War Experience.
We also found time to visit a couple of
folks who could not come to the main greeting room. The lady in maroon pajamas
next to me - she turns "100" next month, on January 23rd. She was so
humbled and overwhelmed to see us with a "rose" and
"treats" when she opened the door for us. She loved our hugs, and was
really appreciative of us visiting her.
The lady in blue, to my left, was the star
of the show. Her name is "Carmel" and it felt as if she ruled the
place. A leader. She is 82 years old, but honestly, felt quite younger during
our conversation with her.
I only spent an hour here, and it was just
TOO short. I'm definitely going back to spend some more time with these folks.
There will be so much to listen, and learn from them.
I have no grandparents alive as of today.
Each of these women reminded me of my grandma, who lived with us since I was
born, and passed away a month after I came to the US to pursue my higher
education. I was fortunate enough to spend 21 years living with her under one
roof. I was very close to her. She was a GEM of a person, who really treated my
mom as her "daughter" and not a "daughter-in-law". Very
forward thinking for her age, and very talented too. She would have been in her
late 90's if she was alive, and I really missed her after meeting these
wonderful folks.
What a great visit, that I will cherish
for many years to come!
