leaping up

What a difference a week makes! I felt bogged down when I last posted. Now I'm much better.

Believe it or not, I had a second Emergency Social Services call in my one week rotation. This time it was a seniors' apartment building. Lots of evacuees were outside the building in a church adjacent to the property for several hours. I called the rest of the team in, including a volunteer, and we took care of things. I'm still learning about the emotional dynamics of emergencies. Escaping from a burning building with your life intact is wonderful, but for many, it's just the first hurdle. After that, even if your apartment isn't the one that burned, it could be damaged by smoke or water or both. A big part of our job as responders is to help people find out the answers to their questions, and to provide reassurance that things are going okay inside their home hours, days or weeks before they are allowed back to live there. It's that much worse when there are people in their 70s and 80s involved. We do whatever we can to help ensure they are helped so that they won't suffer the worst effects of their natural distress at the situation in which they find themselves. Thanks to our great ESS director and wonderful community support services, everyone is well on the way to recovery. Thank goodness!

After a callout, it takes me several days to come back to my normal energetic and optimistic self. I find it hard to sleep for more than one night, even when I am exhausted. It's a natural human response to the distress. It helps to talk to team members, and Andy is a great listener and comforter. He accepted that I NEEDED to go to bed at 8pm, then couldn't fall asleep until 11:30. He has cooked some good meals and gone for some walks, and just generally been around and loving and accepting as I regain my footing.

Speaking of feet, my injured heel is really feeling better. I have started seeing a massage therapist, who explained to me that everything really is connected to everything else. I didn't realize that my tight upper-back muscles could translate into pain in my hip and foot. She encouraged me to try yoga again, to provide good balance with my weight training. She's also given me a hard little rubber ball which Andy cut in half for me. It's great for massaging my foot at home. I'm now back to walking 15 minutes at a time. I grab the bus to work, then get off partway to work and walk the rest of the way, then vice-versa at the end of the day. I hope I'll be walking all the way by summer. OH! The massage therapists suggested I walk part of the way sideways (grapevine style). I can't wait to try that on Monday! I wonder what people will think?

I went to church this morning. I am grateful for the courage-boost that I receive from my faith community during our Sunday worship and when we get together in other ministry activities. My friend Lynn led the service today while our minister Julie is on vacation. We continued with our post-Easter celebration of rolling back stones, emptying tombs and looking out into the world as participants in the Peace of Christ. Our little church with its expansive and inclusive warm heart is my anchor when I'm struggling, my springboard when I'm feeling energized. I am so glad I found it.

In practical matters, I got our income taxes done. Our candidate was elected in the by-election. I read a good novel. I found a place to recycle our broken toaster oven and iron.

Looking ahead, Fiona and I have booked a kayak adventure for Mother's Day. The last play of the Vancouver Playhouse season, God of Carnage, will go on even though the Playhouse Theatre company is gone. The Canucks are still in the Playoffs and we're cooking ribs and watching the game at home, hoping for the best.

Life is a jumble of things that push you down and things that lift you up. On the whole, it remains good and safe for me and my family. I'm grateful to enjoy the resources to be able to share the blessed peace and safety that characterize my everyday life. Bumpy times remind me that I should not take this for granted. That's a blessing too, I guess.

question: are you feeling smooth? or bumpy?

mompoet - regaining my bounce