Author: jennifer.richardson

This is the last day of my vacation after my Helpers of People leave.  I have been working for a long time, and this is the first time I have been off for two weeks straight.  After delivering Meals on Wheels the first week, my husband (Darrell) and I went to San Antonio and I spent some time with my daughter (Michelle) and all three of my sisters (Cathy, Janet and Sandra).  I haven’t been able to spend much time with my daughter this year, and it was really nice to see her.  I am very close to my sisters.  We are not only sisters but also good friends.  I love spending time with them and catching up on their lives.  I also went to a birthday party for Darrell’s Mother while I was in San Antonio.  Both of Darrell’s sisters and their children and grandchildren live in San Antonio, so I was able to see most of his family also.  We came home Tuesday in time to take out my foster friend.  He has autism and we have been taking him out once a week since 1990.  He also spends Christmas and Thanksgiving with us.  I spent the rest of the week relaxing, reading and getting some things off of my to-do list.  I feel more rested than I have all year and it was great to get some things accomplished at home.  I want to thank my co-workers for taking care of things at the office so that I could take some time off without worrying too much.  I work with a great group of people and I feel very blessed to work for such a great company.

Last week, my husband Darrell and I delivered Meals on Wheels.  On Monday, the first two people on the list did not answer the door.  We deliver Meals on Wheels in the FDLIC route rotation, but we have never had anyone not answer the door.  I was worried that we were not getting off to a great start.  We called the Meals on Wheels office and told them the names of the people who did not answer the door.  I was really worried that something had happened to them, but we delivered to the same houses later in the week and they were home.  I was wearing one of my Alzheimer’s Memory Walk shirts on Monday and one of the men we delivered to commented on it.  He said that his wife was featured in a news story about Alzheimer’s the previous Saturday and that they participated in the Memory Walk that day.  I love talking to the people to whom we deliver meals.  Some of them do not have much contact with other people, and I am sure they are lonely.  I have always loved to visit with older people.  My grandmother took me to nursing homes with her to visit her friends and my church’s youth choir sang at nursing homes often.  Last week was wonderful.  The last couple of years have been really challenging for me and I really needed some time away from my normal routine.  Last year, my Mother died, my former boss for whom I worked for over fourteen years died and one of my sisters almost died.  This year, I have been working a lot of hours for a very demanding client.  It has been very stressful, and the time away has been great.  It also made me feel good to do something for other people by delivering Meals on Wheels.