EVERY May 1st I could count on my ex bf to repeat this little ditty. So, two things remind me of that period of my life .....the 1st of May, and the other type of nursing I did in the summers of 1986 and 1987.
Like I didn't have enough to do with Float Nursing and also Department Store Nursing. But, happenstances arise and we must take hold as serendipity rears it's ugly head.
I was living in a backwoods type place with my bf, no store, no gas station, no road plows in the winter until at least noon and lots of horses, cows and strange people. It was quite a fun time in my life, albeit only 3 or 4 years when I was in my early 30s. I can never remember how long we lived together. I only remember how it began and how it ended. Except for the Camp.
By the time I met Mr. B, I had already bought an apartment at age 21, fixed it up, got a roommate and sold it 2 yrs later while an LPN - and with that $10K profit - I bought a 3 bedroom townhouse, fixed it up, got 2 more roommates and contemplated selling that place two years later. - As a new RN, I sought to move on to bigger and better things ( also interest rates on mortgages were up to 24% at this point) so my next step was an easy decision to make.
I knew Mr. B from high school days and he was quite a "different" personality for sure. Very funny, but very different (read: odd). So, we had something in common (the school part - not odd), albeit he was a wild guy that partied it up while I was a mousy stay at home church going gal.....and our social lives, other than the occasional class, never intersected.
So I and my $35K profit made from my townhouse, moved in with Mr. B ....into a lovely house he had built himself - in deck pool and fireplace and all, on four acres of land. Very Private. We didn't need drapes on the windows because only coyotes were there to look in. We had four Morgan horses out in the field - which backed up to a small hill where we would practise target shooting with Mr B's handgun.
I learned to "water witch". I actually "discovered" his swimming pool ;-) AND the water main running down the middle of his drive. It was common to have Cowboys driving their cattle right through our front yard in the fall. The mornings were something else - it was always Baileys in the coffee in the am after a night shift while sitting on the front porch steps, savoring the first golden rays filtering through the pines....listening to the echo of neighbors shouting across the valley, roosters crowing, birds chirping......and Willie Nelson singing over the speakers in the ponderosas above our head.
You could get on a horse and ride over the hill to the little pub, or just saddle up old "Lady" and ride for 3 hrs and get nowhere fast. The smell of maple leaves and bonfires in fall was exhilarating.....It was heaven......and I loved it. The wild west with it's rattlesnakes, scorpions and tumbleweeds.....what a better place for a Camp?
A friend of Mr. B's was a social worker with the government and there was a need for developing a "getaway" or "camp" for mentally challenged adults with physical limitations - that were institutionalized - never stepped outside their facility's walls ...... so "RoadApple Ranch" Camp was born.
For two summers in a row we ran the camp - from Monday to Friday - we would get a group of four clients at a time dropped off to our house - then we would give them the experience of their lives....and then Friday saw them home again. On the weekends I would either work at the hospital or work at the Department store.......so basically I was "nursing" 24 hrs a day through the week and at least 12 hrs a day on weekends.
We gave them a 4 day week that they wouldn't forget. We took them fishing at the local lake, horse riding our docile "Lady" - or at least they got led around while on her back...and got to pet our new little foal "Peso" born right on our little "ranch". We had a campfires in our deck fireplace - complete with marshmallows and wiener roast and even campfire music (I play the guitar and sing somewhat). We put them in Life jackets and they swam with us in the deck pool. We had Movie Night. Dances. Talent shows. Hiking. Mini-golfing. Fishing in the Local Lake. There wasn't anything they couldn't do!
Being a nurse at heart, though, made it a little difficult to relax at night. I have always found it difficult to sleep while at work - it just didn't seem right - even when they were in our home. Yes these "clients" were continent, thank goodness. Yes, they pretty well could feed themselves with a little set-up assistance. Yes, they mostly got around independently with some support. And usually they slept all night. They really didn't need 24/7 direct observation.
Most of the campers were on medications and some of the info sheets that accompanied the occasional camper indicated they were prone to "tantrums". Most of the campers were heavy-footed when they got up to use the toilet at night....they couldn't help it - being quiet wasn't their forte. They just weren't that co-ordinated, nor did they know that that's what you are supposed do - talk quietly so others can sleep. In addition, they were sleeping right over our heads.....and we could hear everything - or should I say - I could hear everything. Mr B slept through everything.
We only had one "violent" outburst in which a door suffered a huge dent. Another "camper" somehow ended up with a seizure and ended up in ER until they could stabilize her meds.......
But on the whole - good outweighed the bad. There were precious moments too. One young man with cerebral palsy whose parents (MDs) had banished him to an institution a 12 hr drive away from them, told me in signing "I love you" (we learned a lot of signing from the campers). There was a 60 year old cgentleman with "Downs syndrome" who would proudly read to everyone and then ask me if I had anything I needed him to read for me. Even the mentally challenged young gentleman with the "tantrums" had a proud moment when he exuberantly sang his favorite Johnny Cash song "Ring of Fire" while I accompanied on the guitar - then grinning ear to ear - bowed while we all applauded wildly. We videoed the whole thing and sent it with them for their own personal record...so they would have memories to take with them.
On the final night, I would write up a report on each of them, pack up any extra medications and their clothes and a lunch for everyone......and they would take the 4 hour trip back to their "home" again. For many of them, that would be the one and only journey beyond their institution's walls.
The first summer we did all the activities and meals ourselves. The second summer we hired college students on a government grant to do most of the activities. I enjoyed the first summer way more, even though the students gave us more free time, I still worried about our campers and also missed spending the time with them.......
The following summer saw the end to the Camp - Mr. B and I dissolved our relationship. Apparently the social worker who got us into this project had a sister who would accompany him on his trips to deliver the campers. She decided that Mr. B (and his place) was hers and since I wasn't home a lot of the time - working way too much - there was too much idle time on their hands.
I did try to keep it together but the last straw was when Mr. B let my kitten out while I was at work and she was struck and died on the road out front - 1/2 hour before I arrived home - that was the death blow. It's one thing to have an affair, another to kill my cat.
My best friend came over, helped me pack up my things and I left sans $35K from my mortgage and anything else I had earned - having to start all over again.
Years later, I heard from one of the institutions, that some of the campers still remembered and talked about their experience at our "RoadApple Ranch". I still have fond memories of those precious souls, and I know that they gave us more than we gave them. But the little bit of joy that they had during those warm summer days, I am sure lasted the rest of their lives.
And that, my friends, is why we do nursing......the satisfaction of a job well done......and the effect we have on those we care for....the difference we make in their lives......especially those who are most often the neglected ones in our society.......
And so ended that chapter of my nursing experience. Shortly thereafter, I moved to California.
Posted by A NURSE at 7:38 PM
3 comments:
The Future Missy Prissy RN said...
Wow! You went through a lot but I am sure that is what made you the best nurse you can be today. I wish I had experiences, I am sure I will one day. One day at a time..
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