Daddy’s birthday
Yesterday would have been my father’s 88th birthday. He died 21 years ago from COPD, the result of a lifetime of smoking.
I wasn’t doing well — missing Daddy, missing Ellen and missing Mike — so I decided to go up to Black Balsam, where we scattered Mike’s ashes. I had to take a roundabout route because part of the Blue Ridge Parkway was closed, so it took me over two hours to get there.
But the weather was beautiful and the scenery gorgeous, so I turned off the radio and enjoyed the quiet.
When I got there, I took the side trail and immediately found a wealth of blackberries and blueberries. When I was a kid, Daddy used to take us into the woods during blueberry season and we gathered gallons of wild berries. They’re smaller than cultivated berries, but they have a more intense flavor. We ate as many as we put into our berry pails, and what we finally brought home was used for pies, muffins and pancakes.
Blueberries were Mike’s favorite fruit, so it was appropriate that we scatter his ashes there.
I was about 100 feet from the main trail, filling gallon bags of blueberries and blackberries, thinking about how much Mike would have loved this, although none of the berries would have made it back to the house.
It was comforting to be there. I could almost imagine my father, Ellen and Mike there with me, laughing, our fingers purple from the juice of overripe berries.
I made a blueberry pie today. Yum.
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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