One of the best parts of the day at EDDC is the morning time around the kitchen table. We enjoy coffee, tea, and snacks. It is where we welcome one another, guests, staff and volunteers alike. We get to know one another and talk about our families or our gardens, or the birds or the weather or our travels. We laugh and joke with one another. We reminisce about the past or tell stories. Sometimes we learn where someone grew up or what their work and profession was. Stories and memories from the distant past are important. Sometimes the past 15 minutes becomes a blur but that doesn’t matter. We love hearing about the “good old days”. We love to share in this way because we are a community. We are connected, and the connection piece is so important for those who are experiencing dementia.
This week, we played a game called, “finish the phrase.” One of the phrases was,
“if you can’t take the heat,_get out of the kitchen_. One of our guests finished the phrase and then another one started talking about their family growing up. About being in the kitchen and how it sparked a memory of mom cooking. It brought about a nostalgic feeling. Sometimes the facts cannot be retrieved, but the feelings are there. This is so important. I was deeply touched as I listened to their distant memory, their story, their feelings.
I walked back to my office after 45 minutes around the table. I felt proud of the space we had created and the volunteers that said “yes” to this loving work, this sacred and holy calling of “being present” and being willing to invest in a segment of society here in our little mountain town that needs room “to be noticed,” and engaged and affirmed. For certain, their families do that, but for the caregivers, the days get long, the patience runs out, and we are here to provide that extra amount of love, care, joy. It is all about connection, community, and being on this journey together. It is about giving hope.
