Tonight Emilee was in charge of Football Night at the Warrior Center. Days ago I went with her to the Commissary to put in her order for subs and to purchase some other foods and prizes. On the way to the WWC, in what appeared to be "red" condition of roads (but AF said "amber"), we stopped by the Commissary, and picked up the foods. Also with us were my quilts which did not get delivered on Christmas Eve. (That's another story....)
I met Carol, one of Emilee's bosses, one who is a breast cancer patient. She stayed awhile and then left. There was one of the regular volunteers and two others I hadn't met before. One of the first "duties" I had as a volunteer tonight was to take photos of the football event. The link above should take you to Emilee's Facebook posting about the event. You'll see my photos. I imagine if I worked there, I wouldn't feel so shy about taking the photos. I did get better after one warrior said, "Oh, you got my good side!", meaning, I had taken a photo of him from behind. The next time I took a photo of him, he made another comment about the view of him I had taken, so I just laughed and said, "Okay, ready, 1, 2, 3!" That's the first shot you'll see.
Before the football games started, a female volunteer put in a movie - "So You Think You Can Dance?" - a chick flick with Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere as the main stars. What was so 'funny' was that at 7:00, Emilee announced that she was going to be switching the movie to the TV in the kitchen and would be putting the football game on the big TV. When she did that, all but two of the soldiers moved to the kitchen to finish watching this "chick flick"! My guess was that they wanted a "feel good" movie, a movie where the man stays with his wife, a love story - all the things they are missing or hoping for being so far away from home. When the movie ended, some soldiers left, and the rest moved to the TV room to watch football.
During the football game, I introduced myself to Katherine, the female volunteer. We ended up talking for over an hour. While she is a volunteer at the WWC, I sensed that she needed the center as much as the wounded did. She is a gastroentrologist with the Navy, on TDY at Landstuhl Hospital. She 'left behind' three little ones under the age of seven. Katherine said she never expected Christmas to be so difficult for her as it turned out to be. She kept apologizing for "unloading" on me and said I was her "therapist". She paid me a great compliment when she said I was a great listener, and didn't just listen, but showed empathy. That, she said, was probably why I was a teacher.
So that she wouldn't feel the conversation had been one-sided, I told her she could help me. I explained the symptoms I'd been having for about two weeks - the same ones I have once or twice a year - where I feel like there's something obstructing my esophagus - like air bubbles, and just when I feel I can't breathe, I'll break out in hiccups. She asked a bunch of questions, then told me what I'd been suspecting: something 'spastic' in my esophagus. I told her that made sense because as a young adult, I'd suffered from a spastic sphincter in my esophagus. Katherine explained that it can be set off by a taste, stress, even just a tad of acid reflux just like someone can have something that sets off their migraines. She said if she were my doctor, she'd want pictures - a scope to be sure there wasn't something else going on inside. But in the meantime, she said I should get real European black licorice, and have some of that every other day. Not Twizzlers, as that's not real licorice, she said. Then she said she would consult her sister who is an acupuncturist, and ask her which pressure points I needed to press. She said then she'd either tell me or show me the next time she saw me. That conversation led into my telling her about my experiences with Dr. Ni, a Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor. She was fascinated by that, as she herself is Chinese. Katherine said that she had been wanting to go back to medical school to do something different....and she thought, after hearing me talk about Dr. Ni, that TCM might be just that.
Earlier in the evening, I saw Ron, a young male nurse that I'd talked with for quite awhile on another night (about my father's involvement in WWII and the records I had about the bombings his squadron made over Germany, about his family's roots in Germany, etc.), and asked him if he would mind giving the quilts I had made to two patients in the hospital. I explained that I'd made them to be given out on Christmas Eve, but I wasn't able to get to the Center with them because when I finished sewing on the bindings and Alan was going to drive me there, Emilee said not to try to drive there in the other car because it didn't have snow tires. So, I explained, it worked out because I really had wanted to give them to some of the wounded who weren't able to make it to the Center - the ones that were hospital-bound and really needed a touch of home. Ron seemed honored that I asked. However, as we were cleaning up getting ready to close, I didn't see Ron. I asked Emilee if he'd left and should I perhaps give them to the doctor to give to some patients. Emilee then remembered that Ron said he was going back to his barracks to get his sewing machine because he needed me to show him how to thread it. Ron arrived just as we were turning off the lights. He pulled out a tiny little sewing machine, almost toy-like. He showed me a sample of some stitching he tried to do with it, and said he tried to follow the directions for threading but it wasn't working. So, I took a look at it, saw that he didn't have the thread going through the tension gear and the needle was in sideways. I fixed it all up, showed him how to do it, and he was just so appreciative. I didn't have the heart to say that, even threaded correctly, I had doubts it would work. Ron was just so determined to fix his own uniforms! He received a bit of kidding from a fellow-volunteer, but it was taken with good spirits.
As we were driving out, Ron stopped us (he was walking to his barracks) to inquire from Emilee and Alan when we'd be returning from Edelweiss. He wanted to know if he'd see me again, because he wanted to "get a picture of me with Emilee's Mom". I just said, "Awww, that's so sweet. I'd love that." He responded back, "I'd love that."
It was a very satisfying night to know that I had been a good listener for a young mother so far away from her little ones, and a "mom" to a young man who just needed some help with the kind of thing that moms do. I am so proud that Emilee works for an organization that has such a grand mission. It is true what they say, that when you help others, you can really help yourself.
I met Carol, one of Emilee's bosses, one who is a breast cancer patient. She stayed awhile and then left. There was one of the regular volunteers and two others I hadn't met before. One of the first "duties" I had as a volunteer tonight was to take photos of the football event. The link above should take you to Emilee's Facebook posting about the event. You'll see my photos. I imagine if I worked there, I wouldn't feel so shy about taking the photos. I did get better after one warrior said, "Oh, you got my good side!", meaning, I had taken a photo of him from behind. The next time I took a photo of him, he made another comment about the view of him I had taken, so I just laughed and said, "Okay, ready, 1, 2, 3!" That's the first shot you'll see.
Before the football games started, a female volunteer put in a movie - "So You Think You Can Dance?" - a chick flick with Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere as the main stars. What was so 'funny' was that at 7:00, Emilee announced that she was going to be switching the movie to the TV in the kitchen and would be putting the football game on the big TV. When she did that, all but two of the soldiers moved to the kitchen to finish watching this "chick flick"! My guess was that they wanted a "feel good" movie, a movie where the man stays with his wife, a love story - all the things they are missing or hoping for being so far away from home. When the movie ended, some soldiers left, and the rest moved to the TV room to watch football.
During the football game, I introduced myself to Katherine, the female volunteer. We ended up talking for over an hour. While she is a volunteer at the WWC, I sensed that she needed the center as much as the wounded did. She is a gastroentrologist with the Navy, on TDY at Landstuhl Hospital. She 'left behind' three little ones under the age of seven. Katherine said she never expected Christmas to be so difficult for her as it turned out to be. She kept apologizing for "unloading" on me and said I was her "therapist". She paid me a great compliment when she said I was a great listener, and didn't just listen, but showed empathy. That, she said, was probably why I was a teacher.
So that she wouldn't feel the conversation had been one-sided, I told her she could help me. I explained the symptoms I'd been having for about two weeks - the same ones I have once or twice a year - where I feel like there's something obstructing my esophagus - like air bubbles, and just when I feel I can't breathe, I'll break out in hiccups. She asked a bunch of questions, then told me what I'd been suspecting: something 'spastic' in my esophagus. I told her that made sense because as a young adult, I'd suffered from a spastic sphincter in my esophagus. Katherine explained that it can be set off by a taste, stress, even just a tad of acid reflux just like someone can have something that sets off their migraines. She said if she were my doctor, she'd want pictures - a scope to be sure there wasn't something else going on inside. But in the meantime, she said I should get real European black licorice, and have some of that every other day. Not Twizzlers, as that's not real licorice, she said. Then she said she would consult her sister who is an acupuncturist, and ask her which pressure points I needed to press. She said then she'd either tell me or show me the next time she saw me. That conversation led into my telling her about my experiences with Dr. Ni, a Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor. She was fascinated by that, as she herself is Chinese. Katherine said that she had been wanting to go back to medical school to do something different....and she thought, after hearing me talk about Dr. Ni, that TCM might be just that.
Earlier in the evening, I saw Ron, a young male nurse that I'd talked with for quite awhile on another night (about my father's involvement in WWII and the records I had about the bombings his squadron made over Germany, about his family's roots in Germany, etc.), and asked him if he would mind giving the quilts I had made to two patients in the hospital. I explained that I'd made them to be given out on Christmas Eve, but I wasn't able to get to the Center with them because when I finished sewing on the bindings and Alan was going to drive me there, Emilee said not to try to drive there in the other car because it didn't have snow tires. So, I explained, it worked out because I really had wanted to give them to some of the wounded who weren't able to make it to the Center - the ones that were hospital-bound and really needed a touch of home. Ron seemed honored that I asked. However, as we were cleaning up getting ready to close, I didn't see Ron. I asked Emilee if he'd left and should I perhaps give them to the doctor to give to some patients. Emilee then remembered that Ron said he was going back to his barracks to get his sewing machine because he needed me to show him how to thread it. Ron arrived just as we were turning off the lights. He pulled out a tiny little sewing machine, almost toy-like. He showed me a sample of some stitching he tried to do with it, and said he tried to follow the directions for threading but it wasn't working. So, I took a look at it, saw that he didn't have the thread going through the tension gear and the needle was in sideways. I fixed it all up, showed him how to do it, and he was just so appreciative. I didn't have the heart to say that, even threaded correctly, I had doubts it would work. Ron was just so determined to fix his own uniforms! He received a bit of kidding from a fellow-volunteer, but it was taken with good spirits.
As we were driving out, Ron stopped us (he was walking to his barracks) to inquire from Emilee and Alan when we'd be returning from Edelweiss. He wanted to know if he'd see me again, because he wanted to "get a picture of me with Emilee's Mom". I just said, "Awww, that's so sweet. I'd love that." He responded back, "I'd love that."
It was a very satisfying night to know that I had been a good listener for a young mother so far away from her little ones, and a "mom" to a young man who just needed some help with the kind of thing that moms do. I am so proud that Emilee works for an organization that has such a grand mission. It is true what they say, that when you help others, you can really help yourself.
And with that, I am going to try to get some sleep. It is 4:30 a.m. here. I've been writing for about an hour. I haven't been able to sleep yet. My body clock is ALL fouled up between the time difference and the higher latitudes/less sunlight. Looks like I'll be sleeping on the car ride to Edelweiss!
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