Notes Of Good Cheer

 Sunday, January 23, 2022

We were encouraged to send notes of good cheer to people this month.  Jackie sent notes to every apartment at SRS on an inspiration card.  I thought I'd like to do that, too.  Searching the Internet, I could find nothing similar to hers.  I found very nice note cards at JoAnne's, so I bought a box of 40;  I should have bought two boxes, which I ended up doing.

I wrote a batch of notes at a time in the duration of a few days.  Some were easy, because I knew the people quite well.  What do you say to people you don't know, or haven't met?  I managed to say something positive, like hoping to meet you, or would like to know you better.

After mass today I distributed them.  It didn't take long to get a phone call from Marci and a thank you from people I met.

Monday, January 24.

There was a knock on my door in the afternoon.  A gentleman named Don entered and said he was answering my invitation to know him better. (He really took to heart when I said in my note that I'd like to know him better!)  I invited him in and we sat on the couch while he told me incredible things about himself.  I read his holiday letter in the most beautiful handwriting that told a lot of his experiences about how he got to SRS.  He broke his arm and when he was given a cognitive test it was determined he needed to be in memory care.  This was extremely confining.  In the meantime his car and his mother's house in which he lived had to be sold.  The house was sold with all of his possessions.  He was left with nothing, including a memoir his mother had written that she hoped would be published.  Eventually, he got re-evaluated and the social worked saw that obviously he did not belong in memory care and ended up at SRS.  He has lived alone all of his life, except when he was living in some communal housing.  He was a social worker and involved in peace and community affairs.  He didn't seem to participate too much, but I invited him to Book Club, and I think he'll take me up on it.

Because of our long visit I was a little late for Happy Hour.  Everyone thanked me for the note they received.  The good cheer I sent came right back to me.