Some reasons I enjoy my job, November issue

Some reasons I love my job . . . on certain days


Home health is like stepping into a different dimension. Sometimes it’s awkward, sometimes intimidating, sometimes even boring, but that doesn’t happen much. I would like to share a few stories of the last week or two that show why I enjoy my job.


I believe you cannot be truly and consistently happy without serving other people, without other people being a part of your concern, and it has to be relatively often. My job affords me the opportunity to feel that I am of some service, never mind how meaningful, or meaningless as the case often is. It still affords me very frequent occasion to touch and be touched by someone else’s life, even briefly and lightly.

I treat a woman who is wacko. That’s not her diagnosis but it’s still the case. Anyway she is very kind and enjoys our visits very much. By which I mean she enjoys talking to someone who doesn’t walk away. I take her trash out each time I see her because she is a huge fall risk and her kids are nowhere to be found, for this she thanks me profusely. Once her sink was leaking and I was able to fix it and she thought I was a magician. Again, not meaningful in the grand scheme of things but it affords me many opportunities to increase my happiness for which I am grateful. Once her front door was locked and I could hear her inside saying she had fallen, after calling the police and breaking a window we found her naked on the kitchen floor where she had spent the last 12-24 hours but that’s a story for another day.

This week I had a great conversation with a man in his late 80’s who showed me pictures of the 16 German prisoners of war that he “guarded” in WWII and eventually became friends with. He was clearly proud that he was kind to these men giving them ice cream and getting to know them personally. He told me that the war eventually meant nothing to them and their personal relationship. He then showed me a postcard written to him after the war by his closest fellow American soldier during the service who was a wealthy Jewish man from New Jersey. This postcard said that he and his wife had met up with one of the German prisoners of war (he listed him by first name only) in Germany and were having a great time at the Brussels world fair. Think about that for a moment.  A Jewish man and a German man who had only recently been on opposite sides of a world war, completelt over it because of a relationship. Stories like this are one reason I love my job.  In the not too distant future there will be no opportunity to talk with men and women who lived through WWII and I am glad i get the chance, even when they sometimes drag on a bit. 

Atlanta with Ash and Mara

So a few weekends ago Ash and Mara were in Atlanta for her work convention and we were able to make a mini vacation out of it.  We were really excited to have the opportunity to see them because it comes pretty rarely.  We really only had 24 hours with them but it was great to catch up and the  second we drove off we were thinking of the next time we could meet up.  

The first night at a Thai restaurant after picking them up from the airport, it was good but overrated.

Amazing Shrimp Po-Boy for lunch on Monday

This is the largest sculpture of it's kind in the U.S.  Larger than Mt. Rushmore, it just doesn't look it.  It is President  of the Confederate United States, Jefferson Davis, General Robert E Lee and General Stonewall Jackson.  To give you an idea of who Robert E. Lee is in the south I saw a large coffee table book today in a patients home titled Faith in God and Generals, and it was Robert E. Lee on the cover.

This is the top of Stone Mountain.  It was a really cool tram ride up to the top and a great view. 

One of the greatest things Atlanta has to offer, and I am not exagerating at all, is the huge vietnamese population and thus. . . Banh Mi sandwiches.  3 freaking dollars people, 3 dollars.

Now this meal was not 3 dollar.  What you are looking at is probably the best piece of fried fish I have ever eaten.  This meal was amazing.  Mara had read about this place called the Optimist and it turned out to live up to the hype.  In fact Ash and Mara ate there for dinner 3 nights in a row, awesome.  We had ordered a side of curry rice for the table and as soon as the waiter put it down ash ordered another one, he hadn't even tasted it he just knew it wasnt enough, lol, that is how we do.

All us studly folks the last night at the Optimist.  Most men were in suits or at least button up collared shirts, check out Ash and I.  I'm surprised they seated us.  Great times.  Cant wait for next time.

Movie night with the Lopez family

Monday night for Family Home Evening we pulled out the air mattress and invited our friends over to watch The Lorax. 

Of course we had goodies and plenty of popcorn and it ended up being a lot of fun.  I think it is something we will have to do again.  We have had a number of different families, groups over for Family Home Evening and it has really turned out well each time.  We would recommend everyone combine FHE if and when the opportunity arises (hint: if works best if all kids involved do not belong to you)

Brandon, Jefferson, Hailey.  The Candy Bar was a big success!

Alex seemed to be more interested in hitting things into the TV rather than watching it.

The air mattress was probably a bigger success than the candy bar.

1st year in SC

We decided that we would try to start our blog with a pictoral representation of the last year in South Carolina and then start the blog fresh as a journal of sorts.  It wont be fancy or pretty but it should keep you updated at least.  So here goes.  The first few are actually from our road trip getting here.



Grandfather mountain in NC.  Simply amazing.




Some intense trail we find by the side of the road that lead to some incredible waterfalls.




Hawaii




Every possession we own upon first arrival.

Nicholas and Pearl, our new roomies!

Garret and Meagan Bradham at the Southern living festival in Charleston.  Some of the best food I have had in my lifetime in one convenient location.  I look forward to going again next year.

Also Charleston

Charleston ghost tour, creepy






Where it all started in Hotlanta, the Coca Cola Museum

Where Martin Luther King Jr preached,  Ebenezer Baptist Church

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The annual gingerbread competition in NC, seriously insane, everything is edible.

How I spend my leisure time

Charleston again for the weekend, this thing is called a joggle board.  Which was invented here as a way for the sick or elderly to get gentle exercise.  Thank goodness for modern medicine eh?

This is what our bedroom looked like for the first 6 months or so.  Tonna didnt really want me to add this but  here it is in all it's glory. And yes it is an air mattress, good thing I kicked that crack habit.

One of the cool old southern houses in a small town near where I work.

One of the other, not so cool awesome that are pretty standard in some of the areas where I work. 

Chimney Rock and lake lure.  Lake Lure is where some of the filming from Dirty Dancing took place.

A bluegrass concert in a barn in Atlanta, they have been doing this on Saturdays in the same barn for over 45 years.  It was a pretty cool southern experience.

Wathcing some old men play the guitar and mandolin

Mini trip to Boston to see Nate and Elwyn for the weekend.

                                Old Ironside

Awesome game of frisbee football at a father/son campout.  This huge, mowed, open, grass field was in the middle of a forest and was the most humid place of planet earth.

Our cabins for our family reunion in Nouvoo where not quite luxury but they go the job done.

Look who we ran into halfway across the country.

One of the original Sunstones from the temple

Mark Twains boyhood home on our way to the airport from Nouvoo.

 



 Right after our sealing in the Salt Lake Temple


Tonna and Benson                                                                         Jaclyn, Tonna and Natalie








Natasha, Christian and Jenika.

Tonna doing the electric slide at her work party, Holy Cow some of her co-workers can dance, at least she tried right, because you know I wasn't out there.

Our trip to Asheville had a literal bump in the road and we ended up with a flat tire for about an hour freezing waiting for it to be changed by the AAA guy because we couldn't get the jack to work.  The AAA guy drove in reverse about a 1/4 mile on the freeway to get to our car.

Probably the coolest thing about the Biltmore was this blacksmith, OG fo sho.

Why yes, yes that is a man playing the anvil as an instrument.

  

Ashville again at Christmas time.

 

Mom would love this store

The Biltmore in the background, the largest private home in America

A fountain we found in Houston while we were laid over for a day.  Thank you to Jason, Jillian and Lincoln for providing a good time and a place to stay.

Sledding with the family over Christmas break.

Weekend in Myrtle Beach with the Lopez family.

Joanna, Noel and Alexander

Hailey, Jefferson and Brandon in the lazy river.

Nice hats, dorks.

A weekend in Savannah, GA

We got a drunk guy to take a group picture, hence no group picture is included.

This is a famous cemetery in Savannah, if I remembered the name or felt like googling it then I would put the name here . . .

The SC state fair, and yes there was fried butter, we stayed healthy by sticking with the fried Oreos, snickers and fried cookie dough.

Alex's 1st birthday party complete with two pinatas.

So that represents about .1% of what we have been up to over the last year.  We will now try to stay a little more updated on the blog to keep Y'ALL updated.