One long year
It was a year ago today that Mike died. I tried to honor his memory.
We had our first board meeting for Life o’ Mike this morning, approved bylaws and discussed how we will raise money and what we will do with it.
Since I don’t believe health care will be made available to all in one bill, we wil continue to work toward that goal. Once that happens, and we’re determined that it will, we will offer help, advice and companionship to people who need it — patient companions, volunteers who will be with patients and their families when they’re needed. I can sit with a mother whose child has been diagnosed with a serious illness or whose child has died. Carolyn has been through breast cancer; Morgan has had a child diagnosed with a serious chronic illness. We can recruit volunteers to be with people who need them.
That’s still a ways off, though.
After the meeting, we all dressed in plaid flannel pajama bottoms and Life o’ Mike T-shirts. I wore his leather jacket and Janet wore his Slayer cap, and we went to scatter Mike’s ashes. I had thought about scattering them somewhere on Mount Pisgah, but the perfect idea came to me this morning — the blueberry fields in the Black Balsam area. We hiked in and scattered the ashes (well, most of them — I saved a small portion for me and a little for James, who has asked for “a bit of Mike dust”) among the wild blueberries on a ledge with a spectacular view.
Then we each had a Cadbury Creme Egg which was Mike’s favorite until he received an overabundace of them last year. He started to say he might be able to eat them again this year and realized he wouldn’t be here to do that, so he asked us to eat them for him. It was a lovely little ceremony and very fitting for Mike, I think.
I miss him terribly. The pain still hits me in waves, and I assume it always will.
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a peer support program for people with one or more serious or chronic medical issues or disabilities.
We aim to reduce isolation and fear among people who have conditions, including psychiatric illness, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, mild dementia or other cognitive disorder or disability, thereby reducing depression and complications as people learn to improve self-management of their medical conditions.
Patient Pals help alleviate feelings of isolation and frustration. They can help people develop a list of questions to ask the doctor and then accompany the person to the doctor to make sure all the questions are answered, taking notes to be sure the person understands the doctor’s answers.
Our trained volunteers also accompany their “Pals” to art exhibits, movies and walks outdoors, meet for coffee, call to check in and more.
Our Pals have experienced weight loss, improvement in diabetes, HIV, psoriasis, depression and more, just because they have someone who cares about them. Some relationships develop into longer-term friendships; other Pals move on to more independent lives.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.
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