"We all have those things that even in the midst of stress and disarray, they energize us and gives us renewed strength and purpose. These are our passions." - Adam Braun
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What has been a challenge for you? How did you overcome that challenge or how do you think you will overcome it?
While working at Menorah Park has been fairly straightforward, there has been a few instances that have proved to be quite challenging or intimidating. In this blogpost I'm going to focus on my biggest one to date....the field trip.
Last week (I believe on Thursday), my mentor told me that I would be accompanying Jenny (an activity coordinator for the "Euclid" pavillion) on a lunch field trip with some residents. To begin with, I was SO excited. I had heard about how fun and enjoyable these field trips can be from my grandma. I was also really looking forward to spending some time with a few of my new friends here at Menorah Park. Anyways, I briskly walked across the bast building to Euclid and saw Jenny finishing up the daily morning exercise session - mainly leg kicks, wrist rolls, and arm extensions. She told me to relax for a couple of minutes until they were done. I decided to pull up a chair and do the basic motions with some residents, talking with them as we worked-out. After about 10 more minutes, we were all done and I began transporting the individuals who signed up for the field trip to the main lobby. Two residents had walkers and the rest (4) were in wheelchairs for the day. The bus driver helped everyone onto the bus while Jenny and I discussed were we should go. The original plan was Hibachi, but since it was a sunny 80 degree day, we brainstormed a list of restaurants with nice outdoor patio spaces that we could enjoy. Ultimately, we decided on "Red Hawk," an awesome place in Concord.
Throughout my time at Menorah Park so far, I have definitely come to appreciate my own mobility and independence. Every simple, seemingly trivial task is made so much more difficult for these residents. On a normal day, I would walk into the shaded patio area with my family or friends and sit-down without even thinking about it. But, this process became much more difficult when I had to help navigate four wheelchairs and two walkers through the lunch-time rush. I think that I could've handled this situation on a normal day, but that day definitely was not normal...
"Only 1 more," I thought to myself as I pushed the final resident through the ornate gate and into the patio. My thought is interrupted by a flustered Jenny who whispers to me, "Olivia** leg is gushing blood!!!" (**I decided to change this resident's name in this story) And, sure enough, as I'm pushing my friend Colleen along, I see a rather alarming trail of blood to our table. What's worse, underneath Olivia's leg was a plate-sized pool of blood. Jenny reappears and rushes Olivia back out to the front of the restaurant while I am left to deal with the remaining five residents and the burning glares of the everyone else in the facility. I mean I get it, you don't expect to see that much blood on your Thursday afternoon business lunch, but it was still difficult to deal with.
As a tall, quiet man approach with fresh towels and a mop to clean up the mess as quickly as possible, I focused on everyone else, asking them to look at the menus and decided what they would like. Immediately my instincts from my summer job as a camp counselor kicked in; I took control and looked within myself for the best plan of action. I couldn't question if whether what I was doing was the best option: I had to go with my best bet and make it work. One lady was almost completely blind, so I read the menu aloud, trying my best to keep my composure. One individual started pouring sugar packets into her ice water while I'm trying to help the kind waiter write down orders. Instantly, a thought appears in my head: "Do any of these resident's have dietary restrictions?!?!" I shove the thought out of my mind, knowing that there is nothing I can do about it alone. (it turns out, none of them did...phew!) After nearly 30 minutes, I still have no idea where Jenny, the bus driver, or Olivia are. I nervously gulp down my water and try to keep my smiley face on in front of everyone else.
Finally, Jenny and the bus driver reappear from behind the gate. They explain that Olivia's injury wasn't serious and that she was probably just on blood thinners. Regardless, they still sent her to the hospital across the street in order to best treat the small wound. Sitting down and breathing for the first time in what felt like ages, we ordered a food as we watched the rest of our happy residents chow down.
As we were preparing to once again embark on our trek back to the front of the restaurant, one individuals informs us that they NEED to use to restroom. With no certified Nurse or Care-Taker with us, we didn't want to take any chances if they were to fall and said that they would have to try and hold it until we arrived back at home. This did not make them very happy, to say the least. I won't go into specifics, but let's just say that bus ride home wasn't the best-smelling... Great. After it was all said and done, we all were more than relieved to make it back to our safe-haven.
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This traumatic day (which Jenny later told me was completely out of the ordinary!) showed me a lot. Up until that point I was always questioning myself, doubting whether one-wrong move could have major, unforeseen consequences. But, when I was all alone, these doubts melted from my mind because they had to. Sometimes you are not always going to be able to ask questions and follow someone else's instructions. In these moments, you must have confidence in your training and trust yourself to do what's best. Thinking back on this day, I am surprised at how well I kept my composure and attitude around the rest of the unknowing, innocent residents. And, even though this day was stressful (that's an understatement, really), I still enjoyed talking and spending time with my new friends. In troubling moments, you cannot let the difficulties weigh you down; there is always positivity and opportunity in every situation - you just have to open your eyes to find it.
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