Every Friday, my friend Kenny and I deliver meals together. Getting out in the community and meeting the people that we serve is always the highlight of my week. And I have to say that sharing this experience with a friend makes it even better.
Recently, I was able to share this experience with a new friend, City Manager Mark Ott, who stopped by our Central Kitchen location to deliver meals with me as part of an Austin Area Human Services Association tour. On this tour, he started out meeting with Julia Spann, the executive director of Safeplace, who then dropped him off with Susan McDowell, the executive director of Lifeworks. I picked him up from there, and when we were done delivering meals, I dropped him off at Caritas, and he spent the afternoon working in a soup kitchen with that organization’s executive director Beth Atherton.
It was a great day, and while we were on our MOWAM route, we encountered several people that I had never met before, who all possessed inspiring amounts of integrity and spirit.
First there was Mr. and Mrs. W. They have both lived near Austin since birth, and their living room décor is anchored by a large, framed news clipping of President John F. Kennedy. She’s now 88, he’s 77, but by some standards they could be considered newlyweds. The couple married six years ago, after losing both of their former spouses. Because Mr. W. lost his leg to diabetes, he has relied on his wife to take care of him, and I would say he is a very lucky man in that respect. Caretaking is in Mrs. W.‘s blood. Though she spent many of her younger years picking cotton in fields near Lockhart, she was later employed at Brackenridge Hospital as a housekeeper. For 17 years, she used her downtime during work breaks to visit bedbound patients in the hospital wards, trying to bring a smile to the sick.
Next, we met Mr. and Mrs. G. They are both in their mid-80s and brought seven children into the world. While their kids often visit on the weekends, they spend most of their weekdays alone. Mr. G. suffers from diabetes, memory loss, and is prone to falls, but they do what they can to make it on their own. Mrs. G. prides herself on still being able to perform some light house work and keep up with the plants on her porch, a hobby that she relishes.
And last, but not least, there was Mr. and Mrs. M., a hardworking, salt-of-the-earth couple, who will soon celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. Mr. M. worked at Southern Gas his whole life until a work-related back injury left him disabled and in bad health. Mrs. M. also has her own health issues, but despite all of this they keep up their spirits through a healthy and humorous banter.
My faith in our mission at MOWAM never wanes, but having this kind of personal interaction with our clients always renews it tenfold. When I am out delivering meals, I often stop to reflect on the concept of the “circle of life.” Our clients have helped so many people throughout their lives, and now it’s time for some of that help to come back to them.
We all need help in some ways. And, despite the state of our health and mobility, we’re all capable of lending help to others. Our clients might need us to help them get food and nourishment, but they help us in return by allowing us into their lives and giving of their wisdom and spirit. I am sure that any one of our volunteers can attest to the fact that connecting with and learning about the people on their routes is the best part of the MOWAM volunteer experience.
Helping others is one of the most powerful learning experiences we can have in life, and the great part about that is that it’s an experience that is readily available to all of us if we want it.
As always, thank you for your support.
Dan Pruett