Horse Racing

I realized that my last update was misleading. When I said that my next event at the Veterans' Home was going to be horse racing it came across like maybe we were going to watch horse races. That was not the case.  When my friend and I walked into the auditorium last Monday there were two guys standing there. One was a paid worker and he was very surprised that we were there. Apparently three volunteers was a lot for Monday night activities, which surprised me.  There was an oval shaped table in the middle of the room with different color tracks and wholes all around it.  This was the horse racetrack.  Only about seven or eight people showed up this week for the planned event.  I was surprised because I thought the residents would want to get out more and have some fun.  The residents that were there seemed to be the typical crowd.  They took turns passing the dice around while waiting for the game to start so they could practice.  I thought it was funny because to me, dice games are all luck.

         At six thirty it was time to start the game. They went around the table rolling to see who would get to go first.  The person with the highest roll went first.  The residents would roll the die and the number they rolled was how many holes on the track they would get to move.  It sounds like a boring game but most of the residents got really into it.  They would cheer when they got a high number and would hate rolling snake eyes. 

         I ended up sitting next to the guy that was not too interested in the game but more interested in having good company.  He told us we were lucky to be sitting next to the “oldest man in the room”, he was ninety-six! He had us all cracking up.  My friend said she was being a “smart Alec” and he responded with “you knew Alec?!”.  He talked about being in the Navy and training new recruits.  He was so nice and really nice to talk to.  I really hope he comes back next week.  I do not know what tomorrow’s game is but I’m really looking forward to it. (:

Ice cream Social

Monday was my first day volunteering at the Veterans Home.  I am working events every Monday and this week was the ice cream social.  Since this was my first time I had no clue what to expect.  What I pictured in my mind was a group of friendly elderly people gathering in a hall eating ice cream and having a good time.  In reality it was not like that.  Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of people there who were friendly and having a good time, however some were not.  Some residents should not have been there at all which put us volunteers in a tough spot.  As a volunteer we are not allowed to feed any of the residents so when a resident was having a hard time eating their ice cream we had to try and figure out what to do. 

The first thing I was assigned to do was go and get residents to bring them to the ice cream social.  That was fun because we got them really excited about coming.  We'd ask what their favorite flavors and toppings were and they usually had a special order they got at every one. One thing that was hard for me was learning how to slow down.  I am used to power walking to class every day but walking with and elderly person or pushing a wheel chair really causes you to slow down.

When we arrived at the ice cream social we'd seat the residents and ask what they'd like. Sometimes it was frustrating because we couldn't understand what they were saying.  I always feel rude asking "what?" multiple times but I didn't know what else to do.

One of the best parts of the night was that two of the residents provided entertainment.  One played the piano and they both sang.  They were pretty good!  They would play military songs, slow songs, fast songs, and even some current songs.  One of the residents even asked my friend to dance with him which was really nice to see. 

Although there were a lot of frustrating parts of that night, in the end it was really nice.  I had a good time and it helped me slow down and look at things in a different way. I am really looking forward to my monday nights and the rest of the year.  Next week's event is horse racing.