Day 30

Today was by far my favourite day of kindness. I had been carrying around an extra umbrella all day in the event it started to rain. This evening it finally rained and I went on a little search for someone that was caught in the rain without an umbrella or jacket. Within minutes I found someone and offered her my pink umbrella, she was so happy! She didn’t even hesitate to accept, just a huge thank you and a big smile :)

I went to Andrews of Charlottetown to visit with some residents. I taught French once a week at Andrews of Stratford for three years and I really enjoyed it. There was always a class full of 10-15 seniors each week that really loved my classes. I often wondered why I stopped, but my schedule got busy and I took on new things, and after three years of teaching it was hard to come up with new lesson plans each week.  Instead of teaching a class tonight I thought it would be nice to read to someone who was blind. When I arranged my visit earlier this week the activities director gave me a list of 5 names and said I can visit one or all of them.

The first woman I visited was incredible, she was 97.5 (her 1/2 birthday is tomorrow) and she had made 87 wedding dresses by hand over the years, her dresses were even featured in the Eptek Museum. She talked about her family, her life growing up, her sewing, and her fondest memories. We instantly bonded as I used to model wedding dresses in high school and my aunt owned the wedding place. She broke her arm a month ago and couldn’t wait to get the cast off so she could get back to crocheting.  We had a nice ½ hour visit and then I told her I would be back to buy some of her crochet ornaments that she was selling for $4. She is so talented!

Next I met with a sweet woman who was 100 years old, she was almost blind and could only hear out of one ear but she could not stop smiling. She grew up in North Wiltshire where I used to live and we ended up knowing the same people. She graduated from Prince of Wales University in the 1920s and was a school teacher. My grandmother also went to school there and also was a teacher so we had lots to chat about.  We talked about her life growing up, her family and her favourite foods. She loves cupcakes as much as I do :) At the age of 100 she has very few wrinkles and she said her little secret is she still puts cream on her face everyday. She said her son teases her about it as at age 100 he said she probably doesn't need to worry too much about having wrinkles :)  

My third visit was with a brilliant 96 year old man. I visited him for 2 hours and the time flew by. We talked about current events and history - his mind was so sharp. His eyesight was deteriorating but he still tried to read the newspaper every day, as well as watch the news and listen to CBC radio. We bonded instantly, we talked about everything. The details he remembered of his growing up were timeless. I felt like I was there the way he described events, he was an amazing storyteller. It turned out he even knew my grandmother and used to play cards with her,that made me so happy! He said she was a real card shark, which made me smile even more :) He really opened up to me, I could have stayed with him for 2 more hours but it was almost 10pm when I left. He told me how much he missed the company of his wife and that the days were long and his family lived out of province. I promised him I would come back and visit him as I enjoyed the time we spent together. He said he really hopes I do come back.

Tonight I realized the importance of giving someone your time, how much it can make a difference. I have always been a good listener as I love people and love to hear what they have to say.  Meeting three strangers tonight and having bonded with them the way I did is a feeling I can’t even describe. My heart is full of love for them and we only just met.

Makes me realize how much I miss my grandparents as we were very close and had similar heart to heart talks every time we were together. I cherish those moments and I am so grateful to have those memories now after they are gone.

Tonight on my way home I was on such a high from my visits I stopped in for a surprise visit to see my sister-in-law. She was tired when I arrived, so we just laid on her bed, ate chocolate bars and had sister bonding time. It was a perfect ending to my night :)