Charity Begins At Home
I've been bummed out lately because I am not off saving the world. I'm not even curing cancer. Alzheimer's Disease and Spinal Cord Injury, yes, but Cancer, no.
I donate funds like I am supposed to and I drop off carloads of items at Goodwill at least once a month, but in truth, that is for bigger tax refunds and cleaner closets.
I signed up to be a virtual mentor, but I haven't heard back yet.
Since I refuse to spare 3 weeks away from Harry to live in a jungle and build houses, I have been looking for opportunities close to home. I realized today, I wasn't looking close enough. I was putting off calling my favorite aunt who is dying of cancer.
Long ago I decided I wanted to live a life without regret. I was doing well for a while, but then I turned 18 and realized it wasn't possible, and that I also wasn't as virtuous as I had imagined. There were a couple of areas I screwed up majorly in. A couple of people I hadn't appreciated.
I have given up on the concept as a whole, because when I fail it eats me up inside, but I do try to see the bigger picture with things. Sometimes that messes me up to. In the case of the sick aunt, I over-thought the phone call enough to decide I had been a good niece, I'd said reasonable goodbyes and not much more was expected of me anyway. I had lowered my standards even for myself.
I picked up the phone, told my brain to be charming and conversational...and smiled and laughed my ass off for the next 28 minutes! This is my great aunt we are talking about. She is elderly. She said she is down to 84 pounds. She is on 18 meds, including at least 3 inhalers. The cancer has spread and her throat is scratchy. Somehow, she entertained me with stories of her two escape attempts from the hospital, among other things. "Kim, I tried to escape. I woke up early, wrapped blankets over my head, and I went down to valet parking..."Even though she had "no money" on her, she was going to hail a cab anyway.
The hospital found her, twice, and kept a close watch over her until her eventual release. She is home now. She lives alone with a 1 year old terrier who got too used to long walks while she was away. She is surrounded by friends and family and neighbors. She sounds happy enough and her ONLY complaint was that she hadn't bathed in 3 days. "They" are working on the forms to have a nurse come out to help with that. I suggested baby wipes and she thought the idea was brilliant. She assured me she is not the kind of person to go 3 days without showering. She went on to explain how lucky she is that she has such great hair. Something about the perfect platinum color and the wisps going back just right. Reading this you may want to groan, but if you heard her describe it, all you would be able to do is laugh.
As far as I know, my great aunt Elsie has been surviving cancer for over 15 years now. With an outlook like hers, it's no wonder it's hasn't kept her down until now. And by down I mean resting in bed near a big window where she can see the blue skies and her neighbors walking by. She's down, but her spirits are still up. She's not delusional or overly-optimistic. She gets sick if she eats too much, so she's sticking to cheese and chocolate. Seems reasonable to me.
She sounds like the same person she's always been.
I am glad I called.
I donate funds like I am supposed to and I drop off carloads of items at Goodwill at least once a month, but in truth, that is for bigger tax refunds and cleaner closets.
I signed up to be a virtual mentor, but I haven't heard back yet.
Since I refuse to spare 3 weeks away from Harry to live in a jungle and build houses, I have been looking for opportunities close to home. I realized today, I wasn't looking close enough. I was putting off calling my favorite aunt who is dying of cancer.
Long ago I decided I wanted to live a life without regret. I was doing well for a while, but then I turned 18 and realized it wasn't possible, and that I also wasn't as virtuous as I had imagined. There were a couple of areas I screwed up majorly in. A couple of people I hadn't appreciated.
I have given up on the concept as a whole, because when I fail it eats me up inside, but I do try to see the bigger picture with things. Sometimes that messes me up to. In the case of the sick aunt, I over-thought the phone call enough to decide I had been a good niece, I'd said reasonable goodbyes and not much more was expected of me anyway. I had lowered my standards even for myself.
I picked up the phone, told my brain to be charming and conversational...and smiled and laughed my ass off for the next 28 minutes! This is my great aunt we are talking about. She is elderly. She said she is down to 84 pounds. She is on 18 meds, including at least 3 inhalers. The cancer has spread and her throat is scratchy. Somehow, she entertained me with stories of her two escape attempts from the hospital, among other things. "Kim, I tried to escape. I woke up early, wrapped blankets over my head, and I went down to valet parking..."Even though she had "no money" on her, she was going to hail a cab anyway.
The hospital found her, twice, and kept a close watch over her until her eventual release. She is home now. She lives alone with a 1 year old terrier who got too used to long walks while she was away. She is surrounded by friends and family and neighbors. She sounds happy enough and her ONLY complaint was that she hadn't bathed in 3 days. "They" are working on the forms to have a nurse come out to help with that. I suggested baby wipes and she thought the idea was brilliant. She assured me she is not the kind of person to go 3 days without showering. She went on to explain how lucky she is that she has such great hair. Something about the perfect platinum color and the wisps going back just right. Reading this you may want to groan, but if you heard her describe it, all you would be able to do is laugh.
As far as I know, my great aunt Elsie has been surviving cancer for over 15 years now. With an outlook like hers, it's no wonder it's hasn't kept her down until now. And by down I mean resting in bed near a big window where she can see the blue skies and her neighbors walking by. She's down, but her spirits are still up. She's not delusional or overly-optimistic. She gets sick if she eats too much, so she's sticking to cheese and chocolate. Seems reasonable to me.
She sounds like the same person she's always been.
I am glad I called.
posted by Kimberly at
3/06/2007 08:39:00 PM
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