Well December 17th has arrived and its time for my Bloggers Unite Act of Kindness post.
I first mentioned this awhile back and have been thinking about what to write ever since.
Disclaimer:
Some of you that suffer from a weak stomach or bowels when confronted by nice things, may want to stop reading now. Otherwise the following words may render you to be sick or worse, I know the world can be disturbingly nice sometimes.
Regular readers of this blog will know that my mum has serious health problems and there is no sign of things getting easier for her at this moment in time. This is nothing new to my family as the mum has been ill since I was very little and I have grown up with her going in and out of hospital. That being said it doesn't make it any easier to see her in pain or lose some of the independence she has, its just the way it is.
What does make this situation easier to cope with, is the mum herself. When I think of something good or kind, I think of her. If you met her just once you would find this out for yourself. There have been many a time when it looked like things weren't going to get any better and she would pop her clogs (die). Yes that was me using humour to make it easier to type.
Every time things have looked beyond grim, she has bounced back, well hobbled back and remained as cheery as ever. Within hours of being on a new hospital ward, the mum knows everyone, whats wrong with them and if they get many visitors. She will talk to someone who is lonely,depressed, in pain, confused and somehow make them feel better, no matter how she is feeling herself. The staff and patients all love her, even to the point of being disappointed that she leaves to come home.
A lot of folks seem to think that I am doing something good or kind by helping her about around the house with daily tasks and chores. I don't see it like that at all, I just see it as something that needs to be done. I can moan and bitch about the unfairness of it all, but what would that achieve? No bloody much at all. If the mum can cope with it all and with a smile, then so can I.
At this moment in time I am training to become a counsellor, something which I feel my mum has been doing from her hospital bed for years. She is definitely the reason why I have taken this career path.
So what did I do that was good? Well when the mum was feeling better she started doing Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy, this involves anything from exercises to gardening. It was the gardening part that I could help with. The hospital has its very own allotment or community garden which patients that have suffered anything from a stroke to a tumour can use as part of their rehabilitation. The problem is they don't really have enough therapists or more able bodied patients to keep the garden manageable. Enter the gardening idiot (yes me), I may not know what I am doing but I can move soil and weeds. I enjoyed it far more than I thought I ever would, although I did dig up a few plants that I thought were weeds. On the one hand volunteering to help out is a good thing for the patients and the therapists, on the other hand it was good for me too. Lugging soil about is a good workout and I think that balanced the goodness out.
Unfortunately the mum's health took a turn for the worse, so both of us haven't been able to go for a while. After Christmas we will definitely both be back getting stuck in and doing something good together. Here are some of the photo's I took last time we were there.
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