One never knows what simple thing may be the thing that transforms
a life, and there are incredible people in the world that can critically assist in effecting a
transformation, a renaissance.
Let me tell you how the Little Brothers- Friends of the Elderly (LBFE) program, for me, came
to be that singular transformation.
For over five years I had been cloistered in an abbey of
illness as the result of a spinal injury. Recovery was as climbing a Sisyphean
glass mountain. I would take one step forward, and then my health would falter
and I found myself sliding two steps backwards. I was a prisoner in my body,
and was alone. Isolation was beginning to look like a life sentence.
I had gone from being a very independent professional to an isolated
invalid and dependent without assistance. I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t really
take care of myself, and I found myself alone.
My disability was frustrating my efforts towards returning to the world. A life among others had
slowly become a distant and wistful wish. I had always lived in my head and books
had been my life-long and constant companions. So I existed, worked with my
specialists, struggled with my spinal condition, and retreated to read through
a virtual library.
Years passed, and although I existed in a rich escape from
pain and disability into literature and lore, the life outside my rooms grew
ever more distant. Books were now my world, and the real world seemed
increasingly like the fantasy.
It seemed I would live the rest of my life through the words
on a printed page and within the confines of my injury. Then my social worker
made a simple suggestion in passing.
That suggestion transformed my life and opened up a renewal,
and a renaissance. It all began by placing one phone call to the LBFE.
An empathetic volunteer spoke to me and without any complication
enrolled me over the phone into their program. As I was not fully ambulatory
without a companion, the ease of a phone contact for enrollment made this very
approachable for someone in a shut-in situation.
Shortly after my first contact, I received a call inquiring
as to whether I would be interested in participation in a study in cooperation
with LBFE and UCSF called Tech Allies. I had a brief intake interview with sociologists: LBFE's coordinator Debbie, and UCSF’s Leisha.
Living on a fixed budget, I had not afforded a working
computer in years. But, no worries, this program would provide an iPad, and ground-up
training on its use.
Most importantly, the training would be provided by a
volunteer. That feature was to make a crucial difference. Introducing a most
gifted and considerate volunteer, John Graham, into my life.
And through the weeks ahead, I was gently and gradually returned
to the world. A wondrously rich world of people, projects and possibilities.
Follow us through an extraordinary transformation...we will learn a great deal, and spend time at coffee-shops in San Francisco, leeching WiFi over coffee con leche. My life had begun again.
Follow us through an extraordinary transformation...we will learn a great deal, and spend time at coffee-shops in San Francisco, leeching WiFi over coffee con leche. My life had begun again.
-- End Chapter One --
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