I just returned from a full month in the surprising and wonderful town of La Crosse, Wisconsin (see last week’s post). A few more unforgettable local moments took place in my final week there, including:
Decency: A class of learning disabled adults came into the YMCA to try out the gym equipment. They far outnumbered the available staff. Most of them struggled with how to calibrate the bicycles, rowers, stair climbers, ellipticals, and other fitness machines. Within a minute, most of the gym regulars paused their own workouts to come alongside each disabled adult. They patiently helped to get them sorted. They then stayed by their side, chatting and laughing and helping each person try the different machines.
Priorities: I attended a fund raiser for the local hospice. This gave me a chance to personally thank the hospice staff who had cared for my father in his final days. I also picked up a promotional pamphlet that beggars belief for its sheer mid-western awesomeness, on every level. This is the direct text of the flier:
Hospice Care: Making Wishes Come True
Virginia was admitted to outpatient Hospice after it became apparent her lung cancer was not responding to chemotherapy. Her hospice nurse asked Virginia what she valued most in light of the diseases progression.
“One goal I still have is to tour the Spam Museum in Austin, Minnesota”, Virginia said.
It became clear over the next week that Virginia was too weak to travel to the museum. Committed to fulfill Virginia’s wish but unsure how to do so, her Hospice nurse called the Spam Museum. The manager she spoke with was so inspired by Virginia’s story that she agreed to drive the highlights from the Spam exhibits to La Crosse to bring Virginia’s dream to life…
Everything about this is awesome: (a) that there IS a Spam Museum, (b) that it was someone’s unfulfilled dying wish to visit it, (c) that the Hospice nurse saw fit to phone, (d) that they drove Spam stuff to La Crosse, (e) that someone wrote this into a promotional pamphlet, and (f) that I found the flier at an event to support the very same Hospice unit that took care of my father for terminal lung cancer. You can’t make this up!
Cheeky: As I cleaned out dad’s house I discovered his extensive stash of irreverent religious items. Highlights include (a) a product called “The Nun Chuck”, which is a small catapult that flings foam nuns across the room, (b) a lawn sprinkler in the shape of Pope John Paul II called “Let us Spray” where water shoots out of the Pope’s upstretched hands, and (c) several Pope Francis paper face masks. I am not kidding, for some reason he had several of them. A man of faith, dad still managed to keep things in a proper mid-western perspective until the end.
[If you know others who might enjoy a lighthearted story to begin their week, kindly forward them WordsfortheWeary. The more the merrier.]
Image Credit: Dave Crosby, via Flickr