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Eastern State

12/16/2015

1 Comment

 
I volunteered at Eastern State, the regional mental hospital near the campus of William and Mary. I could walk there from my dorm. Playing and singing for blank-faced patients seated in dimly-lit, sparsely furnished rooms frightened me. Often there were no attendants or caregivers present. Just me.
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But when I saw a smile emerge from the darkness or heard a lone voice sing along with me, my fears vanished.
A college friend told me about this volunteer opportunity at the mental hospital. Something led me to blindly show up and do my thing. There was no orientation or preparation by the staff. I just took off with my guitar down the hall to the assigned room, pulled a chair in front of the group, sat down, and began. Guts or God? Or something else?
1 Comment
Michele
11/27/2015 02:12:25 pm

Helps to be naive, just walk into a situation, no idea what's coming or how I will react...lots of those as a young adult, nursing student. Sometimes I wonder why I went back the next day after some awful experiences, but like you say: guts? God? my upbringing definitely gave me strength. And it was all worth it as gave me what it took to deal with anything & everything in all aspects of my life.

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