Grant Guenther- Video Reflection 2

Grant Guenther- Video Reflection Two

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khnaByMk7UA -video of my past experiences
       
          I have been to the “Best Friends” daycare center three times since my last post. I have met many people that I am excited I got to meet as they all contribute to my wonderful experiences. Each patient has their own stories and ranges of dementia, making all visits equally exciting but unique also. Since the first volunteering visit, I have really learned what my role as a volunteer is as well as how to talk to the patients better. Each week I go, I love my organization more and more, but with more experience comes harder challenges at “Best Friends.”                  

Matt and I go way back in time as friends.
We have always been great friends and
both share an interest of volunteering

          My second visit, three Fridays, I decided to  volunteer at 1 or 2 instead of 3 because it is more fun earlier in the day because you are not there as the patients are dismissing. During this visit, I brought a friend from high school named Matt because he was visiting me for the weekend. Our main games for the time we were there were Jeopardy and Trivia. The main things from this visit  that I focused on were Matt’s reactions as a new volunteer and the patients’ reactions on a volunteer that was volunteering for his last time ever at “Best Friends.” Matt participated in the games and was having a great time. He took away a lot from the experiences. One of his grandparents has dementia, so it really gave him an inside look on what having dementia is like. He learned how their thought-process worked as well as how to talk to adults with dementia better so he could better relate to his grandma. Matt thanked me for the experience once we left volunteering. The next main thing I noticed was that a man who had volunteered for the last few years on a weekly basis announced his leaving of “Best Friends” to accept a full-time job in a nursing home. The patients all started tearing up as this was one of their friends leaving their life. It was a sad day as the man gave all of his wonderful new friends a hug as he left. Yet another male had left “Best Friends."

The piano that me and Paula sang to.

                  The next Friday was a day in which we played Jeopardy and sang again. I kicked butt in jeopardy, but that isn’t very important here. As we sang I made a new friend. I danced with a wonderful lady and sang next to her. She was a very funny old lady who was in great shape and she was born in Germany, coming back over to the USA as an adult. She came up to me before singing started and said “you’re the cutest boy I have ever seen” and then gave me a kiss on the cheek as she sat down next to me. This experience was weird and uncomfortable for me, but I stayed smiling as I knew that something like that could make one of these people's days. The whole time singing she referred to me as her boyfriend and often times told me I was a great singer after every song, showing me she forgot what she said often. It was a funny day as I made a new girlfriend for the day.

A picture of what a brain looks like with
a severe case of dementia

                  This past Friday I went again. This was an experience that I will remember forever as it was extra challenging. I was assigned to a patient named Julie. The hardest patient to deal with by far as she often times screamed “I want to go home”, “Where is my momma”, and “I want ice cream.” It was sad, scary, and distracting as she would randomly break down crying. The lady that assigned me to Julie wished me good luck as I had to spend two hours with Julie. Julie immediately smiled as I said hi to her. She said she was happy to see me today and we continued discussing her past vacations and favorite animals. We sat secluded from everyone most of the time because that is what kept her calm. For the majority of the time, I kept her calm and kept her from crying all but three times. It was a hard task, but I really got along with Julie and got to experience first hand what late stages of dementia do to an individual.

                  These past three visits have been all totally different experiences. I am really learning a lot and will remember these instances for the rest of my life. I cannot wait to continue my service. I only have one more required visit, but will continue for several more visits because I love this volunteering so much. "Best Friends" gives me a new view on life that I never would have received without volunteering with these lovely people.