“The great thing about getting older…
Sunday, June 10th, 2007“…is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been.” Madeleine L’Engle.
Seems like the theme of this last week—from Friday Music Fest to Friday Music Fest with a birthday and job acclimation in between. Not to ignore the more obvious theme of falling in love with Alaska again…eagles bickering over fish, sealions playing during intermission, bears guarding hiking trails. But somehow in the middle of this National Geographic I remembered how much I like people-stories, including from those tellers with the longest tales and shortest memories.
My first week of being an OT in 9 months; first time working in this type of setting in 8 years. Both facts a little intimidating but with a nice revelation: I like what I do, no matter what age I’m doing it with. I’ve grown so accustomed to working with kids—the energy, the challenge, the toys!—that I forgot grown-ups can be fun too. Working with children I felt pleased thinking that somehow I could be a part of their story, a small catalyst to make some things easier or happier for them. But with older adults, I am mostly witnessing a story that has largely already been written. My job is to try to give them power to continue their own writing and coloring while medical miseries try to steal their crayons. And I guess I like this role. So far, I have stories of how nearly every inpatient has lost one or both legs, what a “thunderbird” really is, how much pain pills will go for on Juneau streets, and how one family can stretch all the way from Alaska to Africa. Maybe I’ll get some ideas for my own story, as I often lose the plot. 😉
bimpy_ak