The last drop-in centre
On Friday night we had our final night for 2011 of our drop-in centre. It is nice to know that we have Friday nights off until February. The guests we have are generally used to this by now but you can sense their sadness as they were saying "goodbye." We have one guy who comes every Friday, he used to be a weight lifter, so even though he is a gentle guy, he looks mean. He is unemployed but spends his days looking after his dad who is senile, very old and disabled. He comes in on a Friday night, has something to eat with us, plays a few games of pool and then goes to "tuck Dad into bed." He came in on Friday as usual and when he learned it was the final night eyeballed me and said, "When are you starting again?" I told him it would be February and the disappointment was written all over his face and eyeballing me again he said, "That's a very long break. Why?" I felt guilty, but I do know it is hard work. One of our volunteers commented on Saturday night that Saturdays were always hard after Friday nights. Each Friday night is tiring.
Simple ashes burial
I conducted a small ceremony as we interred the ashes of the 101 year old lady whose funeral I took recently. It was a small simple ceremony at a family grave site. The lady had asked that her departure be handled very simply, no great funeral and no money wasted. (She had the cheapest of coffins to honour her request) She wanted her ashes buried in a simple cardboard box. I loved her style, I will include such instructions about my departure.
Cross cultural family night
We had a family night with guests coming from a range of cultures. These immigrants to NZ came from China, Scotland, Germany, India, Sri Lanka, Iran, Philippine/American, Samoa, Sudan and of course New Zealand. We ate a pot luck meal, the kids played games and adults were busy talking. About three people shared a song with us and then others spontaneously sang. A fifteen year old from Sri Lanka sang, then her thirteen year old sister joined her for another song. Three Indian ladies spontaneously sang a song from where they were sitting. The special for me was when an Iranian lady shared a Persian chant about relying on God. Of course, as with the other songs, we could not understand a word, but the presentation was reverent and sincere. I enjoy this mix of cultures, it enriches my life.
Two women's words..
Among the group is a mature Chinese couple. The man has very limited English and we have to use simple words and play charades to talk with him. His wife has more English but still struggles sometimes. They have come to our Christmas dinner twice. They were booking in for their third dinner and as they wrote their names down she hesitated. She said, "I want to... I want to...(and she turned to her husband and spoke Chinese briefly) I want to... be like you... I want to ... volunteer.. get the meals ...we have been two times (holding up two fingers) it is time for us... to help." I grinned all over. It was so neat. She will be a happy volunteer.
The Indian woman who leads the cross cultural women's group was expressing thanks for support we had given. She said, "Lots of people just talk about helping people, but David (us) really does it. These people don't just talk about it, they actually help a lot of people." I'm glad that can be said about us though I don't think we are as good as it sounds.
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| The broom grows so quickly, it nearly takes over the early track on my mountain. |
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| Even though it is a weed, the broom is pretty and its perfume is nice to walk through. |
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| The platform has been under fallen rocks for years. Why the notices now? |
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