Things are coming togetrher.......

The job is going well. It is a pleasure to have a job that allows me, on an everyday basis, to enhance the quality of another person's life. Now grant it, some days we are sometimes too busy to feel the impact on weather or not we made a difference, but today wasn't one of those days.

I had the pleasure of interviewing a resident for our newsletter today. (Our company puts one out monthly. I get the pleasure of writing it.) The only reason I bring this part into my blog is because I was so in awe at some of the answers she gave. Before telling you about the interview, I have to give you a bit of history on this person. Doctors have given her less that two months to live due to cancer. It has already been two months and two weeks, so according to her doctor, she is living on borrowed time, and she knows it.

She has the greatest attitude. I learned she was born in Tennessee. Married when she was 20. Loved being a wife, cooking and cleaning and taking care of her home. Listening to her talk, I thought this sounded pretty ordinary until she started talking about her husband going off to the war. And about having to go to work to support her family. Now being the tiny little lady she is, when she talked about running a saw in a sawmill, cutting lumber, my ears perked up. Then she said after there was no more wood to cut, she went on to work operation a kick press (whatever that is) and working as a maid in the wealthy part of town. She said she wore the same uniforms you see in the movies - black dresses with crisp white collars and sleeves.

She also talked about her and her husband making 50 pounds of candy every year at Christmas time to share with the neighbors. She talked about how hard money was to come by and how long she saved to get enough to make the candy. She said she couldn't let her neighbors down. They might not get anything sweet because they may not have any money either.

Can you imagine what kind of world we would have if everyone had the same mind set now she did back then. There are a lot of really nice people out there who honestly want to help but there are a lot of me people out there too, only focusing on themselves.

Another good thing happened at work today. The new girl I hired started in my department today. She has about 8 years experience in working activities with the residents. I can tell you it was a pleasure watching her interact with the residents. You could see she knew the needs of the different resident almost before they voiced them. I think she will be a real asset to our facility and to the activity department.

Unfortunately it showed how bad one of the other girls is. I knew she needed coaching and teaching, however, she has not been open to learning and growing. The other team members have been complaining about her a lot. As you remember I wrote in another post , she was the one I had to write up on my first day alone on the job. She had a pretty ruff day today. I hope the new girl can help her come around, otherwise, her days are numbered. There's too many good people out there who need a job and are willing to do what is necessary for the residents.

On to a happier note. Our student volunteering program is beginning to take shape. There are two high schools willing to offer our facility as a good place to earn their community service hours. I'm excited. I have worked with one of the schools before and know the experience will be a good one for both resident and student. The other school may take some work but I know will be well worth the efforts.

I'm glad things are coming together in this job. I think it is a better fit than either of the last two jobs I have had.

I hope everyone is having a great week. God Bless.

Quote of the day:The best things in life aren't things.