Socorro, Part 2











As it turns out, the hospital personnel thought Socorro needed an interpreter for a little bit longer, probably for the whole time she's hospitalized, so I have been blessed with looking after her and some other elderly that are hospitalized with her. It's been a different kind of assignment, because I interpret very, very little. Most of the hours that I spend there I am helping out in whatever capacity I can, from helping her get dressed, changing Enrique's food, singing with Tracy, joking with Beverly.

Emotionally, this has been a bit taxing. I've been feeling pretty tired when I get home, since they have extended my hours, and I'm basically spending the whole day with them. It's hard to see so much suffering. My heart weeps at times. I really appreciate the comments about my last post, you are all so kind, but I am not a very special person, far from it, really. It's just mere empathy that any human being would feel for her or his brother or sister when they are old and tired and sick and at times desperate. It's been just hard. Some days, Socorro is better and she can get dressed and participate. She even gave me the recipe for a Paella, wich I made for dinner last night (DELICIOUS!) Some others, she's tired and she can't comprehend what is happening around her, and I am not a nice person in her eyes, and she throws her coffee, or her shoes at me or at whomever is near.

But she is not the only one. Each day I see new people coming in, and sometimes, it seems unbearable to see them go back and forth between getting better and getting worse. I keep praying for them all. I am thinking that, after this assignment is over, I will have no other choice but to volunteer some of my time at this place. It has been a beautiful blessing at the same time. It's so nice to feel these men and women's love. I really have gotten the better part in this deal. I will forever be grateful to all of them, for all they are teaching me. Such tender, beautiful hearts I get to meet every day.

I am only sorry that I get so tired and wrapped up, that I can't get to my dear online friends! I come home really tired, ready to see the kids and dear hubby... Connor started walking today (about time!), Cesar was invited to the Academically Talented program for Social Studies, as I thought he would be, and Nicole has started reading her first books these days. Brian will start traveling to the Dominican Republic for work (I HATE HIM!!!! Trying to convince him that he REALLY needs an INTERPRETER, since he speaks no Spanish ;)

So sorry I haven't been visiting blogs lately! I will as soon as I can have a free afternoon!
Lots of hugs!

Comments

Kim -today's creative blog said…
Yes Paula, you ARE special. I would probably be throwing the shoes back. Sounds like you have alot on your plate, don't worry about us bloggers.
Yea for the baby!!! Yea for Cesar and Nicole! (sorry if I spelled their names wrong)
7:06 PM, February 14, 2007
Anonymous said…
Was starting to worry about you girl. Thanks for updating. Congrats to Connor for walking. What a huge STEP. he he

Where in the Dom will Brian be. My mother has a home down there. I've never been, she says it is beautiful.

Congrats to Cesar and Nicole as well. Big changes in your house. Enjoy them.
8:31 PM, February 14, 2007
Artful Creations by Tracie said…
I completely disagree with you Paula...and I'm sure your family (Brian specifically) would too! You are a VERY SPECIAL person and you do VERY SPEICAL things whether or not you want to believe it. The world needs more Paulas!! ;)

I'm happy you're doing something that you enjoy and I'm sure you keep in mind that with any job there is good and there is bad, bad isn't always good but it is something that just must be and we can't control it. It's destiny, it's fate, it's whatever God deems it to be.

God Bless you and Socorro!

Oh and I completely agree with you about Brian needing an interpretor for the Dominican Republic!!!
11:59 PM, February 14, 2007
Anonymous said…
O sweetie you need a hug and a glass of wine with a bubble bath that lasts about 2 days straight! I am sending you my love right now! can you feel it? kisses and hugs! you are a strong woman! I respect you 120%, but remember to take care of you too!
8:23 PM, February 15, 2007
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Still ALIVE...

... but swamped with fabrics and paint. It's kind of funny, I ordered some fabric online from Joann, and then when it arrived, I really didn't like it. See, I'm making new curtains for the back door (it's one of those sliding doors and we used to have blinds there), new pillow covers (because we got new slipcovers for the couches) and I'm re-upholstering the dinning room chairs. And so, I ordered different fabrics that I thought would match. Very orangy-yellowish, those are the colors we chose for staging the house. Anyways, when I saw the fabric, I was very tempted to return it, but instead, I started the first chair today... And I think it looks AWESOME!!! I just finished cutting all the fabric for the back of the chairs, tomorrow I'll be busy sewing. Can't wait to see the first one finished. I'm actually getting EXCITED! Bought a couple of lamp shades, too, and I'm almost done painting the tables black (coffee and end tables). Of course, the kids ...
Read more

Happy birthday, USA!!!

Image
We will be having a totally lazy 4 th of July. Brian just came back from his trip last night, and I think he must be needing a lot of rest. He's loving his new job, but since he really is very good at "fixing" accounts, every time he fixes one and he's starting to enjoy the fruits of his work, another one gets "broken", so he has to go in and fix that one as well. It's nice that he gets such a good reputation in his industry, and it's great that he gets to know so many new people, because it's always good to have such a network of contacts, but it's really exhausting. Anyways, a few days ago I went to buy a watermelon, because we all are fans (big time!). We come home, our mouths watering, and we open it to this... WHAT??? Cesar was brave enough to try it, but I just cannot bring myself to eat some yellow watermelon flesh. It does taste the same, but I just couldn't have more than a bite or two. I'll have to give it a try again toda...
Read more
Image
A few weeks ago, after work, I heard Brian scolding Cesar. (If you don't know it, Brian and I work from home, so my office is just a few steps from the kitchen, so i can hear pretty well) He was starting to sound VERY unhappy, especially because Cesar wouldn't own up to his mistake. OUCH! So, here I come into the kitchen and start listening in: BRIAN: "What do you mean you didn't take them? Are you hording them? Did you hide them?" CESAR: "Brian, I didn't take them, really" BRIAN: "What do you mean you didn't take them? Coco and Connor can't reach them. Mom wouldn't take them, and they did NOT grow legs". ME: "What are you guys talking about?" BRIAN: "It's just that we had the gumballs' container almost to the middle this morning, and now, there's barely one layer of them. The only one who could have done it is Cesar, and he won't even tell the truth!" ME: "Eh... mmmhhhh ... did we have t...
Read more