Alex Edidin
July 28th, 10am
The Thanksgiving Home
Clara Welch
607.547.8844
My first couple visits at the Thanksgiving home were primarily helping the senior citizens with different crafting projects. My most memorable day was attending a jewelry class. Since the average age at the home is over ninety years old, many of the ladies have hurt wrists and they no longer have the mobility to do the arts they once enjoyed. Recently, the activities director of the home started a program where he helps the elderly do an assortment of crafts. Primarily, I talked to the five ladies who attended jewelry making class as they handed me different beads they wanted on their necklaces. The most touching moment of my first three visits was when a lady named Betty talked to me for about an hour about her granddaughters and was so proud and excited to give the necklace I beaded to them for next Christmas. I think this moment showed me that once you reach that age the little things like small gifts and calls and letters become increasingly more important. Before I attended these visits I assumed that I would be wheeling wheelchairs around and helping people get ready for the day; however, instead I got to learn about each individual and their connection to the small town that the Thanksgiving home is located in. Through this service, I learned that often the activities that seem insignificant are the ones that you truly learn from - whether that be having a conversation with Gertrude about her favorite part of the year (when the local second graders come and sing) or beading with Betty and seeing how excited she is to give her granddaughter the wooden beaded bracelet she beaded herself. This experience has taught me how much senior citizens appreciate when teenagers and elementary schoolers take the times out of their busy lives to visit and help them.
Alex Edidin
August 1st, 1pm
The Thanksgiving Home
Clara Welch
607.547.8844
The next visit was focused on leading a reading course for the seniors. Primarily, this was focused on summarizing the daily news and then either reading to them or down crosswords with them. Initially, every meeting would start with me going through the New York Times or the Post summarizing the events that had to do with the election and foreign affairs. For old people, it’s really important to keep them involved because their vote counts just as much as ours does. Since politics is one of my passions I really enjoyed hearing their stories about the political events in their lifetime and their views on the madness of the current election. For next part of each lesson I would read crossword puzzle clues aloud to a group of about 13 seniors. At first, this was extremely difficult because they knew far more about the clues than I did but in the end they got more joy out of teaching me these random facts than doing the puzzle.
Through this service, I learned how much older people love passing on their knowledge. Through these interactions we had conversations about heavy subjects like life and time or we would just joke around about current events and what was going on in the small town. However, I think the most impactful part of this service was seeing their faces light up when I told them about my life. As we went through the crossword puzzle clues they would ask me quesions that the questions reminded them of. They actually seemed interested in what I was doing in school and wanted me to teach them the new things I was learning. Lastly, the biggest misconception I had going in was I was worried about the reputation that very old people can be fairly mean and demanding. The people at the home were the polar opposite. Many of them asked me for my information to stay in touch and I am hoping to volunteer there next summer as well!
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