The other life skill that I have learned while at Cedars is patience. When dealing with adults with developmental disabilities patience is key. Sometimes the clients get upset at little things people wouldn’t normally think of as upsetting. Sometimes the clients don’t understand the concept of interrupting or can’t understand when you’re busy and that they have  to wait their turn. In this situation, I have to sometimes I have to tell them to calm down and take some deep breaths and reassure them that it is alright. Patience is something that I will bring with me wherever I go in the world. Whether it is working with others, or simply raising a child people have to learn to be patient in order to succeed in life.

“Hi, mu-m-my name is Nicole,” she stuttered. “What’s your name?”

I took a step backwards due to the fact that this woman I had never seen before was inches away from my nose.

“I’m Audrey,” I said.

“Oh that’s a n-nice name. Are you new here? I am nu-n-new here. You have pretty hair.”

“Thanks,” I half-heartedly said. “Yeah, today’s my first day. Your hair’s pretty nice too” -although in reality, all I wanted to do with her hair was dump a bucket of shampoo on it. Her greasy curls glimmered in the sunlight mimicking my last remark.

It was indeed my first day volunteering at Cedars Art and Textile Center. They told me I would be working with the clients in the garden, doing arts and crafts, interacting with the seniors, and working with the clients on their social skills. But I had never interacted with the amount of disabled people that I was now, and I wasn’t sure how to first go about my day, especially with no familiar face in the sea of confusion.

“D-do you want some help?” Nicole asked as I struggled to pick the apples high off of the tree for the video we were making about eating healthy food.

“That would be amazing. I could use some tall arms like yours around here.”

I wasn’t sure if her round body would be able to stretch all the way up to reach the ripe apples. After all she did look about 300 pounds.

“I-I love you, y-yo-you’re my best friend,” Nicole smiled. I had never met anyone who within 20 seconds of our introduction told me they love me. Although it was a little strange, it gave me a sort of warm, confident feeling inside.

“Thanks, Nicole. I like you too,” I murmured. We began to fill up the basket full of apples. I told her to put the rotten apples in the compost basket, and the ones that looked good for eating in the woven basket. She said “Of course,” and vigorously started filling up the basket.

I looked at Nicole head to toe. She was wearing a Tinkerbell shirt. Her smile was overtaking her face. Her teeth were the size of basketballs. She was content.

She swung her hand onto my shoulder and started to step real close to me like before. I could see the beads of sweat on her forehead begin to drip down the side of her round face. Even I was beginning to get toasty while being outside, and I wasn’t sporting an extra 200 pounds.

“D-do you want to know why I-I am here?” Nicole stammered.

“Sure,” I replied hesitantly. I always wondered how aware people with developmental disabilities like Down syndrome are of their disability.

“W-w-well,” Nicole excitingly admitted, “This may take a while.”

“I have all day,” I explained.

She then continued to describe to me her life in much depth, reciting every problem that she has, and every challenge that she has come across. I found out in that half an hour of talking with her that this 37 year old woman who has Down syndrome also has a disease where the calcium in her bones leaves and poisons her blood stream. In response to no calcium in her bones she has broken 12 bones because they are too brittle. She has kidney stones, has had heart surgery three times, and has arthritis. She dreads the cold months when she can barely move. Her main support system growing up was her mom, however last year she died of breast cancer. Nicole then paused and looked at a bumble bee that zoomed by stopping on a daisy near her nose. “Look how happy she is,” Nicole stated. I had never really looked at a six-legged insect and immediately thought to myself how happy it must be. I guess that’s just how she chooses to look at life.

“I’m so sorry, Nicole. It sounds like you have had quite the life. You seem so strong though,” I told her.

“Y-yeah, you know, I just keep on truckin’. If I were to die tomorrow then I would die a happy woman. Who cares about my hard life, I’m s-surrounded by people that love me, and that’s all that matters. R-right?” Nicole said.

“Wow Nicole, that is such a fantastic attitude about life. Your really somethin’ you know that?” I said back to her. She chuckled and shrugged her shoulders, “I-I guess I was just born that way.” I smiled at her. “I-I want you to have this.” Nicole said as she handed me a fragile green and blue toy Tinkerbell. “Y-you’re my best friend,” she stammered again.

Right then, the bell rang for all the clients to go inside for their afternoon cookies and tea. Nicole said bye and shuffled back inside for her afternoon break. I stood there below that apple tree thinking about this strange yet oddly wonderful woman that I just met. I had met many people that day, but none seemed to quite be like Nicole. She probably had one of the toughest lives out of all of the clients at Cedars that day. Despite that, she remained to be so happy and cheerful and no matter what challenge she faced she continued to live life to the fullest.

I returned to Cedars a week later to once again volunteer. I looked for Nicole all over, however her awkward body was nowhere to be found. I asked where Nicole was and my mentor told me that she was in the hospital. She had had a heart attack and they weren’t sure if she was going to make it. I paused and looked at my brittle Tinkerbell in my pocket. “Oh,” I said, “I’m sorry to hear that.” I thought back to the day of our meeting, and about the things she told me.  Something about Nicole made me feel she was going to be okay. Maybe it was how she disregarded the many train wrecks in her life. Or maybe it was the way she looked at bumblebees. Nonetheless, what I do know is that I had never quite met a more optimistic and truly inspirational person like I did for that mere 30 minutes on that wonderful autumn day at Cedars.

Next I went outside to the group that was working with the animals that day. Together we groomed the bunnies, and worked on their social skills like talking about their plans for the weekend and how there weeks had gone so far. Then, I went back inside to join the Senior’s with a game of Wii bowling. To my surprise, they were all incredibly good, and had the basic motion of bowling down to a tee. They all got so excited when they got a strike or a spare, and would jump up and down for me when I did good.

Finally, it was time for them to get on their vans to return to their living headquarters in San Anselmo. We gave them tea and cookies as they waited and made sure they all said thank you when they received them. Then we checked off everyone to make sure they were all accounted for. After we sent them on their way, I returned to the main headquarters to sign back out, and I too was on my way.

Overall, I had a wonderful first day. Although at times I wasn’t quite sure what to do or how to react, I learned to think on my feet and be creative. Everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming, and I am looking forward to the rest of the year at Cedars Art and Textile Center.

I had never been to this particular site of Cedars before, so it was a bit unfamiliar. I walked through the front doors, and some of the clients who were weaving immediately stopped and started talking to me. I walked through the weavers station to the back of the building to meet with Connie (the director of the art and textile center). We chatted for a few minutes about SEA-DISC, what my goals are, my availability,  and what I would like to be doing while I am at Cedars. Then, Jane Schwartz, a staff member at Cedars gave me a tour of the entire place. We met a ton of the clients and she showed me the animal center, the senior center, the arts and crafts rooms, the kitchen, the garden, the weavers center and many more wonderful parts of Cedars. Everyone was so friendly and excited that I was going to be working there. Jane and I talked about what clients I wanted to be working with while at Cedars, and she made some suggestions as to what she thought would be best for me. We decided that every Wednesday, I would work in the garden with the clients and in the classroom teaching them about healthy foods. Every Friday I would work in the Center for seniors with developmental disabilities, helping the clients with their social skills, and interacting with them as much as possible.

After my tour, I went back to the headquarters and Connie and I went over our paperwork that we needed to be filled out. We also talked about how whenever I come to Cedars I have to log in to their system. When I leave I have to log out so they have a record of how many hours I worked.

Overall, the interview went really well. I loved Cedars, and especially loved all the people that I met. I feel as though this is going to be a really positive experience for me, and I am really excited.