My business cards came!!!!!!

This caricaturist is good! After he drew us, we watched him draw other people, too... so, so, sooo very good. You can find this guy at El Dorado Hotel in Reno.



So my caricature is supposed to offset the mood in the rest of this blog entry..

So something happened at work that made me think about why I do what I do. I did some free association... that's why there's this blog. My professor had us do an exercise yesterday. When he said, "Go!", we wrote down the first question that came to our head, and then answered it. From there, we'd ask another question and answer it. Eventually we'd write things down that we could definitely work with (in a therapeutic setting or even just to help us know ourselves).

So my free assocation started with the event at work. Once in a while, I wonder which path I am supposed to walk or run along in. Then there are moments like the one today that help me remember my passion and revive my faith, which I do on occasion seem to misplace. A common question asked in the medical / health field is: Why did you choose this path? The common answer: I want to help people. (Side note: that answer is not the best to give in an interview. A professor showed us a clip of ER in which all the student doctors who were interviewed answered that question with the same answer.)

Me? I do want to help people... I'm not sure why I feel the way I do; maybe it's because of things I've witnessed, experienced, or maybe it's because I've watched my parents model compassion. Since high school, I've volunteered in one convalescent home after another. While other kids were hanging out with friends during the summer, I was volunteering Monday through Friday at convalescent homes. Let me tell you... those places have to be one of the most depressing places I've ever spent time in. Why did I do it? Why did I subject myself to it? I'm not morbid, but I really, really wanted to do something for them.. even if I couldn't cure their illnesses or old age, I wanted to do SOMETHING. What fueled my passion was these people I encountered. It hurt to see them like there, and it especially hurt because it hit so close to home. I watched my great-grandparents and some family friends deteriorate in these homes. It was so painful to watch, but I'd rather be there with them than pretend that their pain didn't exist. I spent a lot of my time in high school recruiting people to do volunteer work at convalescent homes, and I'm happy knowing that caring students exist. A lot of kids would just ask things like, "Are they crazy? Do they smell?" My response: They'll go crazy if you don't volunteer right this moment!!! Smell is subjective. You smell. Just kidding. Kids want to run away because their parents won't let them go to a dance... I think they need to serve some time at a convalescent home to resolve those issues!!!!!

If someone like me, a non-resident, feels that convalescent homes are depressing, can you even begin to imagine how the residents feel? I would have to say that most of them have a look of defeat on their faces. What can they say though? Nothing. Sometimes their children or the state cannot take care of them anymore, so it's better that they go to the convalescent home and have a nursing staff 24/7. A sadder story is when the kids are out of state or just don't want to care for them anymore, so they leave them in the convalescent home. It happens too often. Physical support can only do so much! Some of these residents never get visitors, staff is too busy to chat with them, and slowly and sadly they die.. very much alone. This is where volunteers come in. Volunteers can keep these people company, play cards with them, listen to their stories... and not forget that they are PEOPLE who need to be cared for, loved... and not to forget that they once lived a life very much like ours.. Imagine yourself 50 years down the road. Where will we be? Will anyone care about us? Will our children and grandchildren abandon us? Will we die alone? Will we go unnoticed? How will we face the end of our lives when the time comes?

If you are interested in doing some volunteer work, I highly recommend a convalescent home. Warning: if you can't stomach other people's deaths, then don't volunteer there. You will get the lowdown of how things truly work in the homes and probably will never, ever think about putting your parents in there! The sad thing is when it's a necessity... The sadder thing is when it's not.

I also spent several years doing volunteer work at the hospital. For the most part, people went home after a visit to the hospital, but the rest... either die in the hospital or move on to a convalescent home. Just looking back at my life, I realize how very morbid everything sounds. I'm constantly surrounded by death and other depressing things.. it's reality though. I just have to balance it with happy things.. like life. Maybe I'm happy knowing that they let me be a part of their lives...

... and you know what? Nothing's changed. I'm still working in places surrounded by death and other people's problems. Although I sometimes wonder what else I could be doing, I don't think I'd be happy doing things that don't involve direct contact with these people. Maybe I could find a balance and have 2 very separate careers.........


Tying this to the presidential election... I want a president who will guarantee that the hard-earned money of our great-grandparents, grand-parents, and parents will go back to them when they retire. I don't want that money misused and abused! I will vote for a president who will show compassion to things that truly should matter. I want to see records that list all the volunteer work that they've done in the field of human compassion. Then I think we've got a winner.