Round 3= Complete!

Hello everyone!

I am so sorry for the lack of posts. We didn't have wifi at Marycrest..and when I did make a trip to get internet, I would get so side tracked on other things instead of posting a blog. :/ But for now I'm on campus for a solid week of internet usage :) That's always good news.

Round 3 at Marycrest Assisted Living Center was nothing short of incredible. For a project that over the past few years wasn't very populat with the Corps, we sure had a good time. I think we owe part of that to how fantastic my team leader Steve was. He has some positive energy about him that is just so contagious, you can't help but be enthusiastic right along with him! Don't get me wrong--since we literally do everything together we all witness each others' bad moments, but we definitely made things a lot of fun. I think we even rubbed off on the staff a little bit about having a positive attiude--saying things like "it's all good", or "it's a great day!"...sounds cheesy, but it really makes a big difference.

After working in the kitchen, I mentioned to Steve that I really enjoyed doing that and I wouldn't mind doing it everyday, as long as I would have some time every now and then to participate in activities and things too. I started working every breakfast shift from 7-10 am. Then from 10 to 11 I would get to chill and just go hang out somewhere, find an activity that the residents were doing or just hang out in the lobby and chat with them. Then, I also worked every lunch shift from 11-2 pm. I really liked getting to work in the kitchen, it pretty much guaranteed that I got to see almost all of the residents twice a day! I also really liked the kitchen staff and got to be good friends with them, it turned into a pretty good routine for me. At least 1, maybe 2 of the kitchen workers are even going to come to our graduation at the end of Americorps! (Marycrest was only 9 miles from our campus) Beza and Steve also worked in the kitchen during those shifts, while the rest of the team was scattered out doing painting, carpet cleaning, activities with residents, gardening, weeding, etc.  Sometimes members of the team got to go on "outings" with the residents--to Target, Walmart, bowling, the movies, etc. Those were always exciting days too.

While the structure of days were hectic, and we had schedules to follow, some of the best times of the day for me was when I would just take a second and hang out with a resident one on one. I met a man named Guy Blankenship, and it turns out he ran the Iditarod 9 times! In fact, his room looks like a museum. For such an antisocial guy, he really took a liking to our team and invited us in multiple times to tell us stories and let us look at his stuff. Another guy I liked to spend time with was named John. He was in a wheelchair, and was pretty hard to understand. It was apparent he had had a stroke, because half of his body was pretty useless. But one time he commented, "sometimes I just want someone to talk to". He was a happy guy that liked to sit outside in the sunshine. I'd sit out there with him for short periods of time and here about the days when he lived in the mountains. About halfway through the round, he started showing up for mealtimes walking with a walker!! I was so proud of him, and he is so determined to get better. He told me that there was a time where he couldn't even sit up or talk, so where he was at was a huge accomplishment. Amidst the team's tearful goodbye on Friday morning, I gave him a big hug and told him to keep on working. He promised he would. Our team had already promised that we'd be back to visit in July after 4th round, and I told him that by that time he better be dancing because I want to dance with him! He thought that was absolutely hilarious! Little bits of conversation like that that I have had with so many of the residents are what I'm truly going to miss.

Another really neat thing is how many of those residents just wanted to take care of us, it was almost like having 50 grandparents! They'd tell us not to work too hard, they'd come out and give us a root beer or a piece of candy. They'd compliment us on our work even if we totally knew we were struggling. And honestly, the same thing goes for the residents in the other building--adults with disabilities. A resident named Vickie moved in about 3 weeks before we left, she really liked us and decided she wanted to crochet us all hats. So she taught another resident Nicole how to do it, and within a week we all had our own hats, and no two were the same colors.

This project had so many highlights. One of them was the first ever Marycrest Talent Show that we put on for the residents. It took place on a Wednesday evening, and we had about 15 acts in it. We had to really hype it up to get some of the more difficult residents to go, but it turned out spectacular. We invited all of the other local Americorps teams and the ones that were in Boulder to come, and that alone was like 60ish people. We had a HUGE turnout of residents, and some of their families even came! The total was something like 140 people, but the room's capactiy was only 102! Some residents performed acts of singing, playing instruments, showing off artwork, and Corps members performed different acts as well. My entired team did a singing/dance number to "My Girl", and I did a separate act with a girl on my team named Lauren--we did the Macarena while hula hooping! We got a huge cheer for that...so much fun! The next day, so many residents were complimenting on how wonderful the show was, one residents stood up at breakfast and asked everyone to give us another round of applause. It was so cute! That was definitely a night to remember.

Another highlight was a side volunteer opportunity that we did for the Denver Health Foundation. They had a "Nightshine Gala" fundraiser which included a cocktail hour, big fancy dinner, a live auction, and an Earth, Wind and Fire concert!!! We helped set up, usher, and assist with the auction, adn then we got to watch the concert for free! Right in front of the stage on the dance floor! Given that E, W, and F is Steve's favorite band, he was like a little boy the entire night. That was yet another night that I will never forget. Our team had such a blast!

Leaving Marycrest was so hard. I'm not sure if it was harder than the others, or if I was just emotional about it. I think that it's just really wearing on me to get to know people so well, and then to just get ripped away. Everytime at the end of a project I feel the same way---I feel SO fortunate to meet all the wonderful people I do, but I get so pissed off that I have to leave them. I know that I will continue to meet new people, but that doesn't heal the hurt of leaving the people that I've just become good friends with. And of course, I add them on Facebook, I have their phone numbers..but sometimes it's just hard to keep things going. Our lives keeps changing and inevitably people lose touch, it just happens. All I can do is just really hold tight to the memories I do have with these people, and pray for the best for them in the future.

The same can even be said for the shuffle team that I was just on at Marycrest. I thorougly enjoyed getting to know Lauren, Henry, and Steve. I lived with them for two months, we got pretty close. And now, as much as I'm eager to get back to my original team, I can't believe I have to leave them! Such a rollercoaster.

So, after this week of transition, I will be heading to Arizona back with my original team! Half of the project will be spent in Yuma living in a Civic Center, and the other half will be spent in Flagstaff camping!! I am SUPER excited. This is unlike any project my team has had so far, and we could not be more excited.  I'll fill in with more details later this week, because things are still fuzzy and this blog is SO long.  Keep it real ya'll

Peace & Love
Abby :)