A Story that Nobody Would Believe
In the weeks following her father’s passing, Kathleen discovered that volunteering at the Richmond Hills Nursing Home was the only thing that kept her getting out of bed in the morning. Her father had been a resident there leading up to his death, and she regretted that she hadn’t made time to see him more frequently. As a volunteer, she had the chance to help other elderly people feel less isolated in the facility, and doing so enabled her to maintain a sense of connection to her father. Buried in debt from his funeral expenses, and recently let go from her job amidst a flurry of lay-offs at the factory, Kathleen stayed up most nights worrying about how she would make ends meet as a single mother with dwindling savings. The only time she felt peace was when, after dropping her daughter off at school every day, she turned into the parking lot of the nursing home to start her volunteer shift. She knew she would have to spend most of the afternoon searching for a new job, but at least for a short period in the morning she could forget everything that weighed on her.
