Days Ahead Look Brighter

We had my Dad stay with us for over a month while he recuperated from his heart attack.  He got better with good progress every day.  Even though he enjoyed being here, he wanted to go home to his house, so with coordinating things with my brothers and sister, we shuttled him home to NJ, meeting one of my brothers halfway there in Virginia.  He is home now with the family keeping a close eye on him with several regular visits a week.

While he was here, we did a lot of little things to get him out of the house each day and some larger things like a visit to Charleston.  Dad had never been there, so it was a treat for him to see the city in person.  Because he is not able to walk long distances, I bought a wheelchair and pushed him around.

He enjoyed the sights and sounds of Charleston, like the market with all the items for sale there.

Then we took a horse drawn trolley tour around the city.

It was a good day with great memories.

In the mean time, I have been doing a bit of volunteer work of a slightly different kind.  I've been helping hour a few hours each week at the USO at the Columbia airport.  I've been enjoying serving all the military folks and their families as they pass thought the airport on their way to and from assignments.

It's amazing how many businesses support the USO mission to serve the troops.  The donations are something to see, like Coca Cola donates all the soft drinks and the cooler to keep them in.

Starbucks donates the coffee and tea.

Stores in the airport donate snacks.

The USO has tables and chairs for the service members to sit and relax at as well as computers and TV's to use.

Located on one wall is a display showing the airline flight information.

The USO has about 150 volunteers staffing the center 7 days a week. form 8am to 9pm.  In 2016, this USO handled more that 130,000 service members and their families.  The volunteers work three hour shifts with three volunteers per shift. 

It's been very rewarding to be a part of the USO team.  I've been enjoying the time, interacting with the service members of all branches.  The thing I enjoy the most is being able to volunteer on something that doesn't require the use of a paintbrush!  :cD

Now we're getting ready to head out in the Journey the last week of May to California to visit our granddaughters that live there.  It's been a long time since we've been out that way so we're looking forward to the trip.

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.