The Access Van picked me up, as promised, but at the incredibly early tine of 9:52. That meant I was almost a full hour early for my 11:00 start as welcomer to Dudley House. However, I browsed the goods, chatted with other volunteers, and otherwise occupied myself until my stint started.
We had a good amount of people and I enjoyed greeting them. About noon, a young man--a seventh grader, that is--came out to wait for his mother, who was still shopping, and we fell into conversation. What a neat kid! Nelson is half Cuban/black and half Caucasian; he has dreadlocks (or whatever they're called), is an only child, plays football, and wants to got to Cornell to study marine biology. I have no doubt he'll go far, as he was so bright, articulate and full of life, it was a pleasure to talk to him. We must have chatted for an hour before his Mom came up. I had taken a picture of this ceramic tree and she had bought it:
I told Nelson's mother I wanted to adopt him and said I'd look for him on the TV when he plays in the NFL. While we were chatting, the woman who does the Dudley House newsletter asked to take our picture together--different generations and all that. She'll put it on the website, she said.
After my stint was over (1:00), I bought a ceramic turtle for Vera and a Christmas wine holder for Cheryl. These will just be thanks for all the times they've picked me up and taken me home. While I was sitting outside waiting for the Access Van to go home, two women visitors came up and we fell into conversation. One of them left, but the other, Esther, sat down and said she'd wait until the Access Van came. We had some good talk (she moved here from Arizona several years ago) and, as usual, I got the recorded message the Access Van would arrive within 7 to 10 minutes. It did, but when the driver got out, he said, "Diane?" He had the wrong name and what's more, he told me an address that wasn't mine. We talked this over--I'm pretty sure the dispatcher screwed up and when Esther said she'd take me home, he drove off. Management doesn't work in weekends, but on Monday, I'm going to call and give them a piece of my mind.
Home, I packed my lunch--by this time, it was late afternoon--and took it and my book out to the middle to eat. Enjoyed it and after, I didn't feel like doing anything productive (I'll gather more donations today), so just watched T.V.
About 7:00, the nurse at Victoria Care Center called to give me a report on Jim. His sores are healing well, I was told, and he's eating well, too. Maybe I'll visit him today.
I ordered A Great Flash of Light from Amazon; that's the book Mary Ann's husband wrote. Should be interesting.
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