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A Challenge or Two

3/21/2011

2 Comments

 
Monday, March 21, 2011
   So it appears that finding time to visit the Soldiers Home now that I have two jobs won’t be my only challenge: Now I’m also a little concerned about finding time to write about visiting the Soldiers Home. Hence, the following two-days-in-one wrapup:
    When I got to Mike’s room Sunday, his new roommate’s TV was turned up to 11, and Mike’s was louder than usual, too—probably to compensate. It actually was painful to hear, but none of it was bothering Mike. To say he was out of it would be an insult to things that are merely out of it. Mike was Out Of It. I rattled his feet. No response. I said, “Mike? Hey, Mike!” Nothing. Finally, after I made sure he really was breathing, I jimmied his shoulder until his mouth snapped shut and woke him up. (We are way beyond the “Oh, I’ll just let him sleep" phase. Especially now that I am challenged to find time to visit.)
   He was happy to see me, but he kept drifting off. I asked him whether he’d like some hot coffee, and by the time I got back with it, he was sound asleep again.
   “It’s a brand-new pot,” I chirped.
   He took a sip and declared it perfect. And then he fell asleep and tipped the full cup against his chest. I woke him up again, to tell him to get some rest, and told him I’d call during the week to see how he was, and come back next weekend, once my mom is here.
   “Hang in there,” I said.
   “I’ll do it for your mom and you,” he said.
   I patted his feet. “Do it for you, too,” I told him.  
   I called Mike this evening on my way home from Job No. 2. He sounded alert.
   “Do you remember that I was there yesterday?” I asked him.
   “No,” he said. “Were you?”
   I reminded him I’d brought coffee and cookies.
  “My God! Was that you?” Mike laughed. “That was the best coffee I’d ever had. Thank you!”
  Mike sounded much, much better. He asked about my son’s golf game. He said he thinks the medicine is making him extra groggy, but he’s glad for the rest. “I’ve just got to get my wheels on straight,” he said.
   That sounded like Mike. And when I told him I’d call again during the week and come see him this weekend with my mom, he sounded happy—and he sounded as if he’s looking forward to it.
2 Comments
Dona VanVoorst
3/29/2011 10:40:01 pm

After 3 years away, there are few names and faces that I actually remember. Mike Marquie is a very special soul - known him since I was a teenage. I remember Jim Wunders and David Fox as well. Before suffering a stroke in '08, I worked with these folks for 16 years. Over the years, countless folks have come and gone. Their stories are too numerous to mention. One of my favorites was Abe Caylor. He was a cavalryman, who may have riden up San Juan Hill with TR. Abe had a valid drivers licence till he was over 100 yrs old and remained a vital part of his little community at the Home. He was one of the last survivors of the Sp-Am War. One only needs to go up the hill to the cemetery and look around to udderstand just how many Vets called this place home. Hope to hear from you.

Reply
Sandy Dunham link
4/7/2011 07:08:17 am

Hi Dona.
Thank you so much for your comment -- and for reading the website. I love to hear other people's memories of the residents and of the Home itself. Abe sounds like an amazing man -- there are so many of them, aren't there?

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    Author
    My name is Sandy Deneau Dunham. I'm a journalist who’s worked at The Phoenix Gazette, The (Tacoma) News Tribune,  The Seattle Times, Town Hall Seattle and Pacific Lutheran University. I'm now back at The Seattle Times, as associate editor of its gorgeously glossy Pacific NW magazine. I've been a volunteer at the Washington Soldiers Home and Colony in Orting, Washington, since January 2009, and I am still a remedial videographer.   

     

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