Friendship - Generosity - Surgery at last.

Dunedin Night Shelter

Mercy Hospital Dunedin NZ

Friendship experience - On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, a week ago I got to spend nearly three working days with a friend from Alaska.  He is a fisherman, a year younger than I, who I met years ago when I was involved with Habitat for Humanity. He used to escape Alaskan winters by visiting NZ, surfing NZ waves, tramping NZ hills and fishing in NZ waters.(when he had a one man boat here.)  He would time his visits to be in various parts of the country so that he could work on Habitat for Humanity sites.  With a brief NZ visit this year he rang me to see if there was any handyman work required at the Night Shelter. Over the years he has donated many thousands of dollars to the Dunedin night shelter cause. The funny thing is, I do not think he is poor, but if you saw him walking down the street or in the old van he drives (older than mine!) you would suspect he was some sort of homeless tramp.  He does not have email or use the internet, (which I find frustrating) and when he visits he insists on sleeping in a tent at the camping ground. It was great, however, to spend three days doing some roof repair work with him at the Night Shelter, I was back at my old trade of being a plumber and he was my “apprentice”. We had elongated interesting lunch hour discussions - Donald Trump - The Church - American democracy –climate change – NZ politics - Christian faith – getting old - and the future. He is a pleasant quietly spoken man, but I have learned over the years, that when we are together working or walking he is relaxed and not backward in sharing his beliefs and opinions.  He came to our place for morning tea on Tuesday before he headed out of town and we both admitted to being a bit sore and tired from our efforts. My friend summed up the conversation with “’Gettin’ old ain’t for sissies!’ is what they say in America”.  I just love how service to great causes builds bridges of friendship between people of different backgrounds. I also value the friends my involvements have brought into my life. 

Generosity - We spent three working days at the Night Shelter and during those hours there were no staff working. Each day we were there we encountered at least three visits from people giving donations for the shelter! A young couple that had just started running a café in town came with left over baking they had at the end of the day.  A woman who is the best forklift driver at the brewery I visit as chaplain came on the Saturday with her family. She delivered a heap of delicious left over food from the workers’ Christmas party. A man who had heard a talk about the night shelter brought a quantity of shampoo and cleaning products. Some mysterious person dropped a bag of good clothing. These were just some examples. With each visit I felt compelled to welcome and thank them. I would then proudly show them through the shelter and answer questions. I was thankful I had an “apprentice” who just kept working. I love the generosity and empathy somehow built into the hearts of so many people.

Surgery at last - I have grumped about my “prostate issues” in blog posts recently. I have had two stays in hospital with infections, and frustrations living with a catheter while New Zealand’s Accident Compensation Corporation make a decision whether or not to pay for surgery. I got a letter saying they would pay, so I rang the reception office of the specialist a couple of weeks ago. To my surprise the voice on the phone asked, “What date would you like?” So today I went into a private hospital, had my surgery and late in the afternoon returned home. I hope it all works out fine. The actual procedure turned out being more extensive than what they thought was necessary, but the specialist came to visit me and satisfied himself that I was fit to go home.  I will not be doing much tomorrow, but I am thankful that it has happened.  I am looking forward to a more comfortable healthy, normal life again.  The nurse who looked after me in the hospital was great. She was friendly, caring, with a sense of humour that kept me smiling and she accepted my weird sense of humour.