ok so i know for a fact that i have no followers and that no one is actually reading this blog, but it's kind of fun for me to imagine that i'm popular on here haha :)
so for all my imaginary fans, i am terribly sorry that i kind of gave up on this blog. i got caught up in the laziness that is summer. i knew i was going to eventually, i am a teenager after all.
i'll try to retell each visit the best i can from here.
i'm pretty sure visit 4 was the day it rained. it was a thursday and i biked over as usual at about 7 pm. it started to drizzle as i was leaving, but by the time i got there i was drenched and it was thundering.
luckily she answered the door right away, but didn't remember me. it was really sad to me that i hadn't been around enough for her to remember me. once i explained to her what i was doing there, she sat down at her normal spot on the couch and we watched the rain.
for some odd reasons there were about 30 crazy birds in her yard, and we talked about them repetitively for about half an hour. i don't really mind repeating things for her, which is weird because that normally annoys me with anyone else.
after a while we stopped talking and just watched the rain, but it wasn't awkward. i didn't feel the need to fiddle with my phone or pick at my nail polish. i'm not sure how much time passed by until i looked over and she had fallen asleep.
i decided to let her sleep, but she woke up about 10 minutes later anyway. she saw the rain and the birds again and we had the exact same conversation as before she had fallen asleep.
pretty soon it was 9pm and i headed back out to a dripping bike, reassuring her that i lived 2 minutes away.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
visit #3
it has been so hot all week, that i have been spending more time in the pool than anywhere else. so when i went over to mrs. summers' house, i decided to keep my dog jessie at home to enjoy our air conditioned house.
unfortunately for me, mrs. summers didn't hear the doorbell, so i stood outside for a while and finally called my mom, who called the house and then mrs. summers came to the door.
we sat at our normal place in the living room, but not before she tried to open some of the windows in the kitchen. i told her it wasn't a good idea because we wanted to keep the hot air out.
this visit was much more quiet. i think we were both exhausted from the heat, and we didn't have much to talk about. but she did ask me if i had any pets, which made me sad because it meant she didn't remember when i brought jessie.
her favorite sentences today were:
"it's so quiet!"
"there's no wind at all today."
"maybe we should open the windows?"
"where do you live?"
she also offered me something to drink, which i helped her find in the fridge. we had orange juice, which i made sure to check the expiration date on before drinking it. she apologized a few times about how she didn't have any dinner to feed me either.
mrs. summers must have really loved her dog, because that seems to be her favorite story to tell me. i'm afraid she'll go looking for her dog one day if i keep playing along with it, but if i try to tell her that her dog has been dead for a long time, i'm afraid of what her reaction will be like.
i think i'm going to bring a puzzle or something next time, because our visits seem to get quieter and quieter each time. i may also bring my 13 year old sister, who loves to hear mrs. summers' stories and is very curious about what she is like. my mom wants me to ask her how old she is, just to see if she remembers. but even at 92, what woman wants to be asked how old she is?
ok, i am now being rushed out the door to go to a sleepover with my friends, but my story for today is over anyway.
i wonder what the next visit will bring?
unfortunately for me, mrs. summers didn't hear the doorbell, so i stood outside for a while and finally called my mom, who called the house and then mrs. summers came to the door.
we sat at our normal place in the living room, but not before she tried to open some of the windows in the kitchen. i told her it wasn't a good idea because we wanted to keep the hot air out.
this visit was much more quiet. i think we were both exhausted from the heat, and we didn't have much to talk about. but she did ask me if i had any pets, which made me sad because it meant she didn't remember when i brought jessie.
her favorite sentences today were:
"it's so quiet!"
"there's no wind at all today."
"maybe we should open the windows?"
"where do you live?"
she also offered me something to drink, which i helped her find in the fridge. we had orange juice, which i made sure to check the expiration date on before drinking it. she apologized a few times about how she didn't have any dinner to feed me either.
mrs. summers must have really loved her dog, because that seems to be her favorite story to tell me. i'm afraid she'll go looking for her dog one day if i keep playing along with it, but if i try to tell her that her dog has been dead for a long time, i'm afraid of what her reaction will be like.
i think i'm going to bring a puzzle or something next time, because our visits seem to get quieter and quieter each time. i may also bring my 13 year old sister, who loves to hear mrs. summers' stories and is very curious about what she is like. my mom wants me to ask her how old she is, just to see if she remembers. but even at 92, what woman wants to be asked how old she is?
ok, i am now being rushed out the door to go to a sleepover with my friends, but my story for today is over anyway.
i wonder what the next visit will bring?
Sunday, July 4, 2010
visit #2
because her dog was the hot topic on thursday, today i decided to bring my own little dog, Jessie, over to meet mrs. summers.
when i got there, Bill was already there. the first thing mrs summers said to jessie was that she hadn't seen her in a long long time. which i found a bit weird but a bit funny too. i held in my giggles. i still couldn't tell if she remembered me.
i suggested taking a walk, but mrs summers said it was way too hot out for a walk, and her mosquito bites were bothering her too much. she had gotten them while picking rasberries in the field, she told me.
jessie turned out to be an excellent idea. she didn't get into anything or have an "accident" on the carpet. she sat on mrs summers' lap and got lots of attention.
today we attempted a crossword. i was told she likes crosswords, but when i attempted one with her, i ended up getting 2 answers, which was more than she found. so we kind of gave up and laughed about how sad it was that we got about 4 out of 30 answers.
she seems to really miss her unnamed long lost missing dog, so i think i will make jessie a regular visitor when i go to see mrs. summers. my mom told me there is some kind of therapy for old people when animals are brought to see them.
its hard because i have no idea how she feels and i can't relate to her at all. she must be scared. i hope she doesn't feel alone. scared and alone is a horrible combination.
when i got there, Bill was already there. the first thing mrs summers said to jessie was that she hadn't seen her in a long long time. which i found a bit weird but a bit funny too. i held in my giggles. i still couldn't tell if she remembered me.
i suggested taking a walk, but mrs summers said it was way too hot out for a walk, and her mosquito bites were bothering her too much. she had gotten them while picking rasberries in the field, she told me.
jessie turned out to be an excellent idea. she didn't get into anything or have an "accident" on the carpet. she sat on mrs summers' lap and got lots of attention.
today we attempted a crossword. i was told she likes crosswords, but when i attempted one with her, i ended up getting 2 answers, which was more than she found. so we kind of gave up and laughed about how sad it was that we got about 4 out of 30 answers.
she seems to really miss her unnamed long lost missing dog, so i think i will make jessie a regular visitor when i go to see mrs. summers. my mom told me there is some kind of therapy for old people when animals are brought to see them.
today mrs summers stories included a man next door with a pet cow and deer, how her house wasn't really her house, and the same story about her missing dog. i don't know how to respond to those kind of stories, because i know they're not all completely untrue, but they're wrong in one way or another. so far i've just been going along with them.
she said that she tried walking home once. i don't know where she thinks home is, but i hope she doesn't go looking for it again. she went looking for her dog alone one night last week, even though he died 20 some years ago.
its hard because i have no idea how she feels and i can't relate to her at all. she must be scared. i hope she doesn't feel alone. scared and alone is a horrible combination.
meeting mrs. summers
mrs. summers' son, Bill, took me over to her house to meet her before i started staying with her for about 2 hours at a time.
my first impression was: wow, she does not look 92.
she was walking around without any help, and had icy blue eyes which popped against her white hair and wrinkles.
slow down jasmine, you're getting all poetic...
i didn't know what to expect. would she remember anything at all?
she asked the same questions a few times but thats it. she told me she wasn't good with names, and laughed. so far that's 1 thing we have in common.
later that day i went alone to see her for my first 2 hours.
when i rang the doorbell i waited for a while until mrs. summers looked out of the entrance window to see who was at her door. i waved, but i couldn't tell if she remembered who i was. still, she answered the door, and to my surprise left me there, because she wasn't wearing any pants.
she later let me in, and i noticed her pants were on backwards, but was too embarrassed to say anything.
i sat down on the living room couch and noticed a photo album was out. my mom had told me that old people like to talk about the past, so i asked her who people were and where pictures were taken and stuff like that.
the only problem was, she had no clue about any of it. so i kind of gave up on that and started telling her about my family. when i brought up my dog, she told me her dog ran away very recently, and that they'd been looking all over for it.
now i don't know who "they" are. but i do know that her dog died about 20 years ago. i didn't know whether to play along or mention that her dog passed a long long time ago...
i played along, afraid to argue with her.
she told me stories that seemed stretched to me, and asked me about my family, my school and if i drove about 5 times each. i tried to answer the same way everytime.
her favorite story to tell was her dog story, though. she must have told me 20 times that her dog loved to watch people on the window sill. but she couldn't remember if it was male or female, or even it's name.
the interesting thing was, she realized that it was ridiculous that she couldn't remember her dog's name, she just didn't know why.
she also went to the fridge twice, asking if i was hungry or thirsty, only to find some rotten strawberries that she swore she had picked yesterday. the only thing was they were in a plastic box that read SPECIAL: picked in Quebec. i showed her the mold and suggested she throw them away but she just put them back in the fridge.
mrs summers gave me a lot to think about that night.
my first impression was: wow, she does not look 92.
she was walking around without any help, and had icy blue eyes which popped against her white hair and wrinkles.
slow down jasmine, you're getting all poetic...
i didn't know what to expect. would she remember anything at all?
she asked the same questions a few times but thats it. she told me she wasn't good with names, and laughed. so far that's 1 thing we have in common.
later that day i went alone to see her for my first 2 hours.
when i rang the doorbell i waited for a while until mrs. summers looked out of the entrance window to see who was at her door. i waved, but i couldn't tell if she remembered who i was. still, she answered the door, and to my surprise left me there, because she wasn't wearing any pants.
she later let me in, and i noticed her pants were on backwards, but was too embarrassed to say anything.
i sat down on the living room couch and noticed a photo album was out. my mom had told me that old people like to talk about the past, so i asked her who people were and where pictures were taken and stuff like that.
the only problem was, she had no clue about any of it. so i kind of gave up on that and started telling her about my family. when i brought up my dog, she told me her dog ran away very recently, and that they'd been looking all over for it.
now i don't know who "they" are. but i do know that her dog died about 20 years ago. i didn't know whether to play along or mention that her dog passed a long long time ago...
i played along, afraid to argue with her.
she told me stories that seemed stretched to me, and asked me about my family, my school and if i drove about 5 times each. i tried to answer the same way everytime.
her favorite story to tell was her dog story, though. she must have told me 20 times that her dog loved to watch people on the window sill. but she couldn't remember if it was male or female, or even it's name.
the interesting thing was, she realized that it was ridiculous that she couldn't remember her dog's name, she just didn't know why.
she also went to the fridge twice, asking if i was hungry or thirsty, only to find some rotten strawberries that she swore she had picked yesterday. the only thing was they were in a plastic box that read SPECIAL: picked in Quebec. i showed her the mold and suggested she throw them away but she just put them back in the fridge.
mrs summers gave me a lot to think about that night.
introductions
first of all, i'll start off with hello.
hello.
my name is jasmine, and i'm your average 15 year old girl who loves summertime, chocolate and adam lambert. i have no clue how to run a blog, but i'm learning.
this year my school requires all the students in my grade to do 40 hours of social action.
now what exactly is social action?
it is a type of community service that involves other people with disabilities. and we cannot graduate without those 40 hours.
it's optional to do 20 of those hours in the summer, which i am gladly doing. and just what am i doing for those 20 hours?
i am spending time with a 92 year old woman named Peggy Summers. she has dementia, and these are her (and my) stories.
hope you enjoy :)
hello.
my name is jasmine, and i'm your average 15 year old girl who loves summertime, chocolate and adam lambert. i have no clue how to run a blog, but i'm learning.
this year my school requires all the students in my grade to do 40 hours of social action.
now what exactly is social action?
it is a type of community service that involves other people with disabilities. and we cannot graduate without those 40 hours.
it's optional to do 20 of those hours in the summer, which i am gladly doing. and just what am i doing for those 20 hours?
i am spending time with a 92 year old woman named Peggy Summers. she has dementia, and these are her (and my) stories.
hope you enjoy :)
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