The one that got away
Highlight of my last week by Sharon Community Circles Connector extra care
One of the purposes identified by individuals for their respective circles is the want to reconnect. Reconnect to something that they hold dear, something that is integral to their very being.
I met with a gent a short while ago, staff had told me that despite him being in his early 60’s, and in good health, he was ‘just waiting to go to heaven’. When I met him it soon became apparent that he did not feel he belonged, that the only gent he had bonded with whilst in extra care had sadly passed away, and the activities on site held no interest for him. As we chatted, I found that he had a lifelong love of fishing, indeed he had begun fishing as a child, but had never had the opportunity to go since he moved into extra care around 8 years ago. We talked about his past in more detail and I found out he is a veteran, talking fondly of his time in the forces.
I met a volunteer this week who contacted me following a visit I had made to a local veteran’s group. He is a veteran and as he talked of his interests, my fishing gent’s purpose was brought to the forefront of my mind. I could not have hoped for two gent’s interests to align any better than these. I revisited my fishing gent and talked about this volunteer and how we could start to get his circle established. As we talked about how his circle could help him reconnect with his love of fishing, I saw his posture physically lift. He chatted excitedly about getting his fishing gear from the cupboard where it had been gathering dust for the last 8 years. He added that he wanted to get certain gear repaired and how he will renew his fishing licence. He repeatedly talked of how it could be really good and how he was looking forward to meeting with this volunteer. As Aristotle said ‘Hope is a waking dream’, I think in this case there was never a truer quote.
I am truly looking forward to these gents sharing stories, hearing of ‘The one that got away’ and remembering that ‘Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught !!’