tavie.com

I've mentioned before that I'm torn between my anxiety at interacting with strangers and my desire to devote my time to something I consider important (for me), which is volunteering my time to help the elderly. I don't know why that's my "issue", but it tugs at my emotions like nothing else. As horrifying as Katrina has been, nothing made me cry until I read about the seniors who died in their retirement home, forgotten by everyone.

I'm still not ready to deliver meals to homebound elders or even spend an hour visiting with people in a nursing home. It's still a daunting thought (and with my frequent weekday insomnia, I'm exhausted after work and on weekends and spend the time selfishly catching up on sleep.)

But to prepare me for it, my Mom suggested I find some sort of pen-pal program and interact with seniors that way. That seems like a good idea. I found Elder Wisdom Circle (there's a good Salon article from 2003 about it here`.) It seems like such a good idea, which is why I'm blogging it... if answering these questions really does make older people feel needed, then, dammit, I've got problems they can have a hand at wrangling...

I think I've always been in search of a Grandpa, that's all. I've never had one. And I miss my Grandmas a lot. One of them was so crippled by depression that I barely knew her, even though she lived with us for the first 7 years of my life. The other one I did know, and she died when I was 16, and I miss her (although my dad is morphing into her, god help us all.) I also wish I hadn't sold this book, one of the most moving and affecting things I've ever read.

If anyone else has any ideas of how I can help ease into this volunteering-for-seniors business, let me know.

Why are you in Tavie's head? 2:29 PM | shower me with attention