connected
"Unit #3"
stories in the making
I'm way past a million miles now. The stories are too
many to 
recall - the hitch-hiker Priest to whom I gave a ride from Stuebenville
to Cleveland, the 112 year old woman in Kansas who was still "singing for the Lord",
the concert I gave in Illinois that nobody came to (the janitor gave me my
check), break downs, rescues, all night and day drives, close calls with scary
individuals - just looking to sing a little.
treading into the wild
Published in the High Impact Training Newsletter
" 'Go to hell.' That's what you might hear from Millie at the Creekside Convalescent Home in Santa Rosa, CA. A few minutes later she may compliment your outfit or your eyes. Today she's on her way, wheeling determinedly past me as I sing. She stops suddenly and unsmilingly finishes the verse of the song I'm singing. I get quiet so we can hear 
her voice. It's a strange voice and this is one of those weirdly wonderful moments.
JUMP (Join Us Making Progress) has delivered me here. As a service/volunteer organization for students at Sonoma State University, they've established an 'Adopt-A-Grandparent' program with Creekside. It's not an easy place to be and we are a large group today, but these students find a way to melt in and make it real. They know that not everyone is going to have a sunny disposition, given their health problems, medications and occasional bitterness towards the world.
Today there are edgy moments where I'm not sure what's going to happen. But Millie has decided to sing with me, not tenderly, but with conviction. She finishes with, 'Please don't take my sunshine away,' and she's gone. Something good just happened...I think."
