New Beginning, New Day

Best Way To Make New Friends

She waits at the crosswalk thinking back,

 to the first time she stood in the middle of the room being introduced.

Her rosy face feeling warm as if it were spring,

really it was the middle of winter with a thin layer of early morning ice on the ground,

causing her to slide onto the door mat and bang her knee on the steel door knob.

The throbbing pain of the bruise starting to form was forgotten,

once she walked inside the large room that smelled of Lysol spray and alcohol.

 At least 2 dozen sets of eyes were staring at her,

with her messed up hair she tried to keep tidy in a ponytail getting wet with nervous sweat,

with her habit of comfort that soothed her anxiety,

her knees shaking to a rhythm of a beat in her head that she was only aware of.

Then as the nurse left the room leaving her alone with all of them,

the nerves disappeared when she seen the want in there eyes,

all they wanted was a few moments of her time, attention, for her just to listen.

a chance to tell their story of who there were and still are.

The ones who had given there time and limbs to the armed services,

the ones who had worked as doctors, teachers,  in politics,

the homemakers, the ex cons, the homeless. 

There was a bit of a sinner and hero in them all,

now as they all shared the same home,

together they looked at her as she passed around the diet soda and bingo cards,

there would be betting later that night among them.

How long would she stay ? 

Bets ranged from 2 weeks to six months.

Three years later as the crosswalk turns green and she walks across the street,

she holds in her hands a sweet treat of chocolate, marshmallows, and a nutty surprise,

made from scratch from a recipe from Mrs. Reynolds the retired baker,

the first person she seen as she opened the steel door knob and walked into

the nursing home she visited once a week.

Her favorite day of the week. 

She doesn't think of it as Volunteering, 

to her it's just visiting friends.