Friends Forever

I am lucky to have GREAT friends.

In school  I had a lot of friends but I am not in touch with most of them as I do not visit the place that I was in school.

In college we were a group of 5 friends who were close and enjoyed our college days by bunking and going to movies and sometimes going on a picnic with the permission of parents,

I had lost contact with all of them, Met one on my wedding day when I went to the beauty salon to get my make up and hair done and in a hurry did not really exchange any phone numbers.

Some years ago on a Sunday I happened to talk to all four of them and we meet sometimes as and when time permits,though we speak on the phone on birthdays and keep in touch otherwise too.

When I went to Bombay Hospital I met some girls who I became friends with and am still very close to. Even though it is more than 30 years since I first met them, we have been there to support one another in any way required.

Two of the friends are now settled in Auckland, New Zealand and my husband and I visited them for 3 weeks about 3 years ago. We really enjoyed the holiday and it was one of the best holidays that we had. We exchange gifts and know each persons likes and dislikes.

I have been going to The Home for the Aged for nearly 13 years as a volunteer and there too I was lucky to meet some nice people who I am friends with.

I love my friends and hope and pray that everyone has somebody to be there for them in times of need. I have not mentioned any names but you know who you are when you read this blog post.

May all of you be blessed always.

Love you all,

Sheila

B for Begging

In July 2003 I started going as a volunteer to The Home For The Aged run by The little Sisters of the Poor In Mumbai, India.

The Order was founded by St. Jeanne Jugan in the nineteenth century in France.

Now there are Homes all over the world and the Religious look after the poor and abandoned old people irrespective of  religion or caste.

Since the Homes are run on charity the Religious go out at least once a week to beg for perishables and non perishable in the markets. Many people come to the homes and donate on different occasions in the family or any good happening that has happened to them. Most of the time the shopkeepers give very willingly but some make a very disgusted face at the sight of the Sisters when they are doing their rounds.

These photos have been taken by my daughter Magali & were published in her blog 'Begging with the Little Sisters of the Poor in Mangalore', you can read more about our experience there.

Most of the Sisters have a thick skin and do not mind if they are insulted but some of them are shy and hesitant and I really would not blame them.

Begging is difficult and a person has to be thick skinned when they are insulted or just ignored as if they are not visible to the person

May God give the Little Sisters the strength and courage to beg for the Residents of their Homes.

May God shower them with blessings and good health for the work that they do for the poor.

Love,

Sheila

This post has been written as part of ABC Wednesday.

Greed Overcomes All Else

I am quite in a serious mood today. Feeling very angry about how a son is treating his mother.

I am a volunteer at The Home for The Aged since  8 years.

There are about 130 men and women all above 65 years.

As I know most of the old people on first name basis and I go at least 3 times a week they are quite comfortable talking about their lives to me.

The person I am going to write about is a lady 0f 80+ years who was literally thrown out of her home because her husband has made a mistake of transferring the house to the son's name.

A picture taken by Magali at the Home for The Aged
at their recent hat parade event.

The old couple were happily living with the son and his family and the old lady took care of the grand children when the son & daughter in law were working. The grand children grew up and by then the daughter in law was getting restless that the "old people were not dying" and that they would never get the house to themselves.

To the good luck of the children the old couple happened to have a daughter who was living in Canada and had decided to take the parents for a holiday. Before they left the son conveniently told the Father that since he would not be around for 6 months at least it would be nice if the Father transferred the house to the son's name, for official reasons.

The Father trusted the son transferred ownership before they left for Canada.

Six months later they came back to India to a place that they knew as home which was no longer theirs.

The son, daughter in law and grandchildren found that the old couple were unwanted at home and tried everything they could do by verbally and physically abusing the old couple. When the old couple could take it no more they informed their daughter who promptly came to India and took the old couple to Mangalore where they were put in the Home for the Aged after paying more than 12,000/- Rupees ($250 which is quite a lot here) a month not including all other expenses. The old man fell sick there and passed away. Now the old lady was all alone and feeling lonely and to her good luck there was place for her at The Home for the Aged in Mumbai and the daughter came to India and brought her to Mumbai. It is now nearly 6 years that she is here in Mumbai and the son has hardly come to meet her. He calls once in a while to find out if the Mother is fine but the call is just to show the Religious Sisters that he calls and that he cares about the Mother.

The daughter visits the Mother every year from Canada and would have liked to take the Mother to live with her but the harsh winters of Canada do not agree with the Mother.Though the Home is a free Institution she contributes a good amount as Donation. I really admire her as she calls regularly and is really concerned about the Mother though she has no financial gain in the situation.

The Mother is bitter about the whole situation and blames her husband for the situation that she is in today.

She sits and talks to me almost every time I go to the Home. I love talking to her and she says that she enjoys talking to me too. Sometimes I take some home cooked food that she likes and her eyes shine when she tells me that she has enjoyed her meal.

I have seen many cases like these. In all the cases the parents have given away all the assets to the children who do not care about the parents after they have the money, gold and diamond ornaments and apartments in their names.

It is a lesson to parents that you should only give away all that you have in a will that is opened after you are dead. Be there for your children when they need you but do not be a fool and then repent later.

This is a reminder also to my husband and me that we should make a will when he is home this time so that the assets will all be given to our daughter when we are no more.

Take care everyone.
Lots of love,
Sheila