Our Healthcare Workers (Eleanor, José, and Carolyn)

Best Day often has nurses coming in to check on the older buds, offering their services in the lobby to people who have difficulty going to the doctor's for one reason or another. Two of them, Simmoune and Kaitlyn, decided to come to Best Day to share their stories. And wouldn't you know it, we had one of the largest crowds since the pandemic started! We had a total of thirteen attendees, three on Zoom and ten in person! You can see Simmoune and Kaitlyn writing below, and we should have their stories ready in a few weeks' time!

In honor of their visit, writing, and contributions to our older buds, we've posted stories honoring healthcare workers:

Eleanor Kazdan

02.18.2021

The First Test

There was no testing at that time. My husband was like the first person to go through the drive by testing, or maybe he was the second. First or second person at Jefferson Hospital. His doctor said “You should go get tested” because he had symptoms and that was in March the 12th or something like that. And the doctor said “There’s nowhere to get tested now, but later in the day they’re supposed to be opening a drive-by clinic at Jefferson.” And sure enough, the doctor called him at four o’clock and said “They’re open.” So we got right in the car and drove over there. And they came out in hazmat suits and tested him. And yeah, that was crazy.
We were the first people anybody knew who had COVID. We were like superstars, everybody in the world kept calling us. I mean, thank god he recovered right away. Mine lasted for two weeks and his was gone in no time at all. But he gave it to me, I think.

José Dominguez

01.30.2020

The Big Stick Policy

Having a small business in Ciudad Juarez downtown was very crowded, dangerous and amazing. Our store was full of shoes, sneakers, baseball caps, T-shirts, underwear etc. and the front part near the sidewalk was 100% open so the clients could enter or exit at will.
We were surrounded by businesses that offered the same merchandise to the public, so the competition was very hard and sometimes violent. In front of us across the street there was a small restaurant, a store of electronics and in the corner an ice cream business. And in front of his lollipop store there was a newspaper and magazine stand. The person in charge was a small woman, Dolores, who was a hard-working woman. Her husband Pedro was a tall, corpulent, good for nothing violent, crazy, drug addict.
One of those days at noon I was speaking very freely with one of my neighbors who happened to own a drugstore and I called him ‘Doctorcito’, little doctor. We decided to stand in the street in front of my store to take the sun and joking with no preoccupation at all. Our innocent time ended when Pedro the crazy drug addict crossed the street and walked toward us armed with a big stick. It looked little in his huge hands, but it was 4 feet long and 3 inches wide.
As soon as he arrived, he yelled, “So you think you are very important people because you own a business, I’m going to break your bones just to show you what you are.” The threat was very serious because 2 weeks before I saw how he attacked my friend ‘El Abuelo” with the same stick and now The Abuelo ended up in the hospital.
I was in panic, but no word came from my mouth and no movement indicated to escape. Suddenly my friend El Doctorcito spoke with a clear and conciliatory voice. “No Pedro, you are not going to hurt us, you know why? Because we are friends, we are equal, everybody is equal to everybody and we live like a family because we are family”. Pedro was waiting for something else and what was perplexed about Doctorcito’s speech. He cursed, frustrated, and returned to his corner.
I praised the Doctorcito’s intervention and told him, “If you didn’t intervene for sure we will at this time be in the hospital.” We laughed and continued saying jokes.

Carolyn Boston

06.18.2020

BlueJeans

BlueJeans is the name of Penn Medicine’s virtual teleconferencing system. The first time I used it I was amazed at how simplistic it was and I was very, very thrilled with being able to use it. My first teleconference was with my primary doctor. The fact that I wasn’t waiting in the outside office for a long time was refreshing. Plus. there was no need to make the long, tedious trip to the office. I could wait online if she was running late and sip on a cup of tea until she was onscreen. I appreciated the convenience of being at home and felt very relaxed as opposed the stress I experience getting there.
My second virtual visit was with my hip surgeon; that was a piece of cake. We finished in less than 10 minutes. I only waited for 15 minutes for him to come onscreen. The last time I was in his office I waited over an hour and he was so busy that he was unable to see me or the other people that had been waiting for almost two hours. So, I was able to return home, but I was very frustrated because you have to wait almost a month or so to see him.
This time his attendees got him out of his last visit, he jumped on the screen, we talked, and our visit was over. It was great. I really applaud the new technology. In my opinion teleconferencing is here to stay and kudos for all the work that IT and everyone else is doing to make life much easier and better for all of us who have doctor’s visits and really; if we’re not suffering extremely bad we can avoid having to do long trips. So, I really enjoyed being on their teleconferencing system and I’m looking forward to seeing my doctors in the future on that same system. It was a breeze. 

If you want to transcribe for Best Day, then email us at info@bestdayofmylifesofar.org. You can also share our older buds' adventures by donating to Best Day, subscribing to our newsletter, sending a note to our older buds, or following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And if you or the older buds have stories honoring our healthcare workers, then you or they can submit stories through our portal right here. We're especially interested to stories from Black older buds, but we're always looking for stories from older buds of color, older buds with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ older buds, older buds of any gender or sex, older buds of any religion, and older buds who just plain break the mold.

 

 

And don't forget to maintain contact with the older buds in your life. If you can't be there in person, please call them, email them, or message them on social media. And if they're using teleconferencing or remote events for the first time, give them a call and help them set things up. Check in on them to see how well they're getting used to these programs. Buy them a computer or an internet package if they don't have one of their own. It's a human right, after all.

Curated by Caitlin Cieri

National Hispanic Heritage Month (Cida and José)

September 15th to October 15th is National Hispanic Heritage Month! A month dedicated to recognizing the contributions and influence of Latin Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. In honor of this holiday, we're featuring stories from older buds Cida and José this week:

Aparecida de Souza

12.05.2019

I Once Died, But I Came Back

It was Carnival, 03-11-1983. I went on a trip with my younger daughter. Our first stop was to be in Macin, AL. It was past lunch time when we arrived at the hotel. The beach was sunny and beautiful, so we decided to spend some time checking out the warm sand and water and just have dinner.

Going back to the hotel meant that we had to take a shower, even before resting up in our room. We were told to use a bathroom in the downstairs area, which seemed to be out of use, and good only for showers. I noticed that the electricity was off, and saw a switch by the showerhead, way up, near the ceiling.
Trying to reach it, I stepped on the sanitary vaze, unaware of the fact that it was very old, very dirty and also unattached, completely loose from the floor.
That is when it turned around and I fell with my lower back on top of it…
I only saw blood running and my daughter screaming for help wildly.
They took us to the hospital, but, as I said, it was Carnival- No doctors there, there wouldn’t be any for 3 days! Many interns gathered around to help me, but they had had no experience with that kind of wound.
Nurses were telling them how to go about stitching- how to prevent tetanus, etc., etc.
As soon as I was allowed back to the hotel, about two days later, the stitches were already coming loose and breaking. It was the first infection.
After seeing a private doctor, I contacted a private nurse to come to the hotel, clean me up, change the dressings and apply the medicine daily.
Meanwhile, my family in São Paolo kept trying to get me a flight back, what couldn’t possibly be done anytime soon, because airlines were all booked on account of the Carnival.
They finally got me a ticket for two weeks ahead. No matter how I tried to take care of myself, having to lay in bed day and night, the infection only increased.
My daughter was taken from me, and went to stay at the house of the hotel owners.
If not for the kindness of many people that were staying at the hotel and came over bringing food and drink to me I would have starved. The stink in the room was unbearable and cockroaches infested all sides of the bed and bathroom.
I was in and out with high fever, but never stopped praying, asking God not to take me this time, because who would take care of my 2 daughters.
I don’t know if I finally gave up, but at one of this “outs” I passed, and crossed something like a closed bridge.
On the other side, which was bright and beautiful, a tall man came to help me. He was holding me for a while, as we walked ahead, kind of instructing me that I should go back.
I did come back, and it was then that I promised to bring my children to the U.S. to guarantee that they would have a good life.
In 1986 we came to the U.S. for good. 

José Dominguez

09.03.2020

Julio, a Man With a Mission

This is a story that I wrote last week because I went to visit my friend Ernesto that week at the market. Because of the Coronavirus I was cut off his presence, but only physically. At last after 6 months of not visiting my friend Ernesto I went this past Saturday to pay him a visit at business at the Italian Market. As always he was very busy and between customers. We sustained an updating conversation everything was okay and he asked me to buy coffee for the two of us. When I returned with the coffees a few minutes later an old friend of ours arrived. It was Julio, who brought with him two extra cups of coffee to share with us. Well that's alright. It was a very happy moment to find myself surrounded by my buddies. Ernesto was helping several clients so I spoke mostly with Julio.
He is 52 years old. He’s a Mexican from Acapulco Guerrero more or less of my same height but with a slim body strong and hard as a rock. When he speaks always has a grin and bright smile that transforms his face and makes him a very enjoyable person. He speaks orderly, taking his time to put his thoughts in sequence. I ask him, did he receive any money from the government now under the pandemic crisis? He took me to a more empty space near the refrigerators to explain to me the details of his situation.
“Let me tell you Pepe that for the moment I can't receive any help.” And describing how 5 years ago he was assaulted one night when he was going take the bus to return home. Two guys one with a knife and the other with a gun took his wallet with money and documents. He managed to throw away his phone but received a hard punishment in his left side of his head mainly in his ear that was hit with brutal gun force that made him bleed profusely; he almost fainted. But thank God the bandits opted to disappear. He recovered his phone and asked for help to the police who made a detailed report of the assault. Later he was informed that he could use the police report and the medical certification to present a petition for a certain kind of application for permanent legal residence. He had to hire a lawyer and submit lots of papers but had the chance to include his wife and his youngest son. They told him that in 5 years his case would be solved very likely in a positive way. So, he is waiting for the final resolution to be notified this year.
Knowledgeable about the regular hardships that illegal immigrants suffer explicitly by Latinos, and I ask this because I suffered that kind of exploitation as well expectation at El Paso, Texas. And I don’t want to give a lot of details for that, but for me it’s a very common experience that many Mexicans are exploited by Mexicans, not exclusively by Americans.
And he saw me straight through the eyes and laughing said to me, “No, no, no, no. Not at all my first job that I spent 5 years was in a pizzeria owned by a Moroccan. I worked really hard and my boss loved me because of that. One day he asked me ‘Julio why did you come to America’ and I told him, ‘To work, I have 3 sons and they want to study. I was working in Mexico as a baker in a fine business but my income which was good was not enough to pay for University studies. My oldest son who is a very good student was accepted at the medical school but I didn't have the means to support him. My wife and I suffer and cry tears of impotence and eventually decided that we had to split. She would be in charge of the family and I will be in charge of the money. I love to work and work will have to be the solution; but not in Mexico. So I came to America with a tourist visa and here I am working hard.’
Then my boss continued, ‘Now you don't speak English but the time will come that you will manage to function as an English speaker. That's no problem. Then you will have lots of talking. That will increase. But let me tell you are now with a good job and you will find lots of girls of all colors. They are very easy to find. If walk to any bar lots of them are waiting there to find some guy with whom to companion. Beware. You have to see in the commitment you have with those guys in Mexico. They depend on you don't betray their dreams, they trust you.’ Since then I work harder than ever. My boss rented me a very small house and since then all my money goes to my dear family. Every day then I spent with them a videoconference and my son now is a physician and my daughter became a nutrition specialist. My wife and I love and respect each other as if we were present face to face.”
“I tell you Julio,” I ask him, “Have you ever needed physical contact with a woman?”
‘Of course,’ he says, ‘But I always have in mind that sex is not enough to make me forget my responsibilities. Even when I have been offered it with the legal expressions by girls I have met. But it was not necessary. Those thugs that beat me so hard gave me the chance to stay in America forever. And the first thing I will do is to bring my wife and youngest son to live with me. After 12 years our family dream will come true.”
I gave Julio a bright smile and a big hug.

If you want to transcribe for Best Day, then email us at info@bestdayofmylifesofar.org. You can also share our older buds' adventures by donating to Best Day, subscribing to our newsletter, sending a note to our older buds, or following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And if you or the older buds have stories of Latine excellence, then you or they can submit stories through our portal right here. We're especially interested to stories from Black older buds, but we're always looking for stories from older buds of color, older buds with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ older buds, older buds of any gender or sex, older buds of any religion, and older buds who just plain break the mold.

And don't forget to maintain contact with the older buds in your life. If you can't be there in person, please call them, email them, or message them on social media. And if they're using teleconferencing or remote events for the first time, give them a call and help them set things up. Check in on them to see how well they're getting used to these programs. Buy them a computer or an internet package if they don't have one of their own. It's a human right, after all.

Curated by Caitlin Cieri

Short Story Dispenser (Eleanor)

We have some exciting news for you all! Older bud Eleanor's story was published by Short Édition, the French publishing house best known for the Short Story Dispenser. For those who don't know, the Short Story Dispenser is a machine that prints out one, three, or five minute short stories at the push of a button--free of charge. You can read Eleanor's story about her generous grandson Soleil at this link here. But if you'd like to print them out and read them in print, then you can print them out at any of these locations in Philly:

 

 

1. Free Library of Philadelphia
South Philly Health and Literacy Center - Philadelphia

1901 Vine street

2. Temple University Student Center

801 N Broad St
19122 Philadelphia

3. Short Édition SEPTA Jefferson Station

Jefferson Station
19107 Philadelphia

4. Books in Homes Ronald McDonald House

510 Walnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19106
19106 Philadelphia

5. Philadelphia Airport

8000 Essington Ave
PA 19153 Philadelphia

 

 

Make sure you ask for a 1-Minute story! So give Eleanor a big cheer for joining Best Day's pantheon of older-buds-whose-stories-are-distributed-in-print-by-machines. And we hope you have one more minute to read another story by Eleanor below:

Eleanor Kazdan

10.15.2020

Feeling Faint

 

At age 19 I was traipsing around Europe for 3 months with my best friend Kathy on a Eurail pass. After adventures in England, the Netherlands, Spain, and France, we arrived in Italy. Florence was our first stop. I had just started to learn about great art and was proud of myself for that. Kathy and I had visited quite a few art museums before Italy: The National Gallery in London, The Louvre in Paris and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The big thing about Florence was the statue of David by Michelangelo in the Galleria dell’Accademia.
So after a day or so wandering the streets lined with cafes and eating full course meals, which in those days, unbelievably, cost $1.00 including wine and tip, we set out to see the most famous statue in the world. After entering the museum it was a short walk to a rotunda like room where David lived.
I had seen pictures many times but was totally unprepared for the absolute grandiosity of the real thing. I felt like an ant looking up at this spectacular nude Adonis on a pedestal. Suddenly, I was overwhelmed by lightheadedness and felt like I was going to faint. My heart was pounding it took a great will to gain control and continue on to see the rest of the museum.
Over the years I saw the statute a few more times but didn't have the same reaction. Many years after that first encounter I happened by chance to read an article about the very emotions and physical reactions I had experienced. There is apparently a psychosomatic illness called the Florence Syndrome It was documented by the 19th Century French Writer Stendahl and is also called Stendahl syndrome. The symptoms are rapid heart beat, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations in people who are exposed to extraordinary works of art. “Wow,” I thought, “That's what happened to me those many years ago.”
Since then I have seen countless great works of art all over the world, but that was my only experience of being overcome by Florence syndrome.

If you want to transcribe for Best Day, then email us at info@bestdayofmylifesofar.org. You can also share our older buds' adventures by donating to Best Day, subscribing to our newsletter, sending a note to our older buds, or following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And if you or the older buds have 1, 3, or 5 minute stories, then you or they can submit stories through our portal right here. We're especially interested to stories from Black older buds, but we're always looking for stories from older buds of color, older buds with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ older buds, older buds of any gender or sex, older buds of any religion, and older buds who just plain break the mold.

 

And don't forget to maintain contact with the older buds in your life. If you can't be there in person, please call them, email them, or message them on social media. And if they're using teleconferencing or remote events for the first time, give them a call and help them set things up. Check in on them to see how well they're getting used to these programs. Buy them a computer or an internet package if they don't have one of their own. It's a human right, after all.

 

Curated by Caitlin Cieri

Room Shuffle (Frances and José)

One of the challenges of doing Best Day in person is the air conditioners. Many of our older buds have hearing loss, have hearing aids, or are based on Zoom. Air conditioners can make speech difficult to hear if it's loud enough, and it's particularly loud over microphones and hearing aids. Last week, we toughed it out, but this week it got frustrating. We couldn't turn it off, so we had to move to another room. So if our photos look a little different this week, that's why!

 

Frances Bryce

07.13.2021

Entertainment

If you need entertainment, just for a few times, listen to one of the Judge shows. Not the ones that are trying to get the father tested for parental for parental rights and whatever they need or just to get on the TV.
I met a young lady that worked in our coffee shop who wanted to get on a show. She was trying to get her significant other, who was the father, to say he was not sure so she could appear on the show. He refused, so I guess some of the guests on that show may be suspect.
My day of entertainment came when an elderly gentleman did not want his neighbor parking in front of his house, a main, public street, that was available to anyone who wants to park there. He had a driveway to his house, but he wanted to park in front of his house and didn’t want anyone else to park there.
The court case was he was accused of keying the neighbor’s car because she was parked in front of his house. He maintained his reason, that if he drove from the street, he did not have to turn his head in both directions. Finally, the judge asked how he could amicably solve the difference since the lady had a legal right to park on the street that was in front of his house. He replied that she not park in front of his house, a hilarious moment.
He of course lost the case. Then he finally said, “I guess maybe she can park in my driveway, and I can continue to park in the street.” I guess he would be back in Court again.

José Dominguez

07.27.2021

Mi ultimo caso

One of those days of Spring 1972 I decided to end my brief career as a lawyer, and this story is to describe how my exit from that professional path was more than imminent. Well, in reality I never had been 100 percent lawyer. At that moment I was mostly a full time educator teaching among other subjects “Introduction to Mexican Law”. One of my former students, Julia, solicited my services as an attorney because she was fired for no reason by her boss Mr. Carballo. He was a plant manager that had the sadistic pleasure to humiliate and take advantage of his Mexican employees; he supposed that being Argentine by nationality was enough to do whatever he wished to mistreat the workers. Julia had a lot of information because she used to be the Manager’s secretary and thanks to her job she had the opportunity to meet personally the factory owners. I accepted the case and filed three lawsuits: one for tax evasion, a second for fraud against the workers and a third for firing Julia. All documents were perfectly translated into English and delivered to the Company owners back in the USA. Idle to say that the case became a very important one. It’s necessary to comment that Ciudad Juarez was in those moments a turmoil of foreign companies, mostly American, that desired to take advantage of the low cost of operation if they functioned as Mexican companies. One key person in that process was Federico Barrio Terrazas. He was a high profile entrepreneur who was the principal promoter of those foreign companies into our border city. His job was to facilitate all the requirements that those businesses had to comply with and minimize any obstacle that may obstruct their operation. Mr. Barrio used to be the former director of the Technological Institute where I was in those days working as full time employee. He was in Ciudad Juarez and El Paso Texas a very prestigious and powerful person. One day while working in my school I received a phone call of a secretary from the company PROMEXA. Immediately I acknowledged it was the organization where Mr. Barrio was the top manager. She told me, “Mr. Dominguez, are you available to attend to an interview with Mr. Federico Barrio? He needs to speak with you.” Idle to say that I was more that willing to meet him and also intrigued about why so important a business executive was looking for me. I answered, “ Tell me the hour and I will be there.” She told me, “It’s going to be today at 8:00 pm at the main office at the PROMEXA organization.” I knew that company and some close friends like Marcos Alvarez worked there. At the accorded hour I arrived for my appointment. A very gentle secretary conducted me to his office. The room light was not so bright but enough to identify our faces. He was working some papers and a desk lamp was focused in his working space creating a contrast between both illuminations. He stood up at the same time that extended his hand for a greeting he said, “Mr. Dominguez, a pleasure to meet you. I had the chance to meet your brothers that work for our factories. Please seat down.” Without losing a second he continued speaking, “It happens that you have the legal representation of a worker in a labor case against one of our customers, Mr. Carballo. That case is very important to us…we acknowledge you have done a very good job. We respect that hard work of yours and want to pay for your services, so please tell us how much is the cost of your professional services…we are willing to pay your legal fees and expenses.”
“A bribe!” I thought, “ This guy is protecting his client, offering me money to betray Julia.” It didn’t surprise me, I guess it was part of his job and also was an example of his ruthless efficiency. I responded, “I’m not looking for money and frankly that’s not my purpose.” With out showing any surprise he asked, “May I know what’s your purpose?”
“Well I guess you know the case, it’s against Mr. Carballo as you just mentioned. He's a plant manager that uses his prerogatives to exploit and humiliate his employees and operators. I’m only representing Julia but there are more people offended…if you want to know what is my purpose it’s that Mr. Carballo be fired and returned to Argentina to find among his compatriots workers to exploit, as he is doing now with those poor Mexicans.” Federico listened attentively and looking at me stood up and walked towards the door indicating that the interview was over. Before I left he said in a soft and sententious voice: “In regard to the legal case…We are going to win. Have a good night!” I left that place. In that moment it was clear for me that I was not only litigating against Mr. Carballo but against a total system of powerful intertwined interests. I thought: “I don’t know if I will lose the case, but for sure I will not loose my dignity.”

 

If you want to transcribe for Best Day, then email us at info@bestdayofmylifesofar.org. You can also share our older buds' adventures by donating to Best Day, subscribing to our newsletter, sending a note to our older buds, or following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And if you or the older buds have stories about moving, then you or they can submit stories through our portal right here. We're especially interested to stories from Black older buds, but we're always looking for stories from older buds of color, older buds with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ older buds, older buds of any gender or sex, older buds of any religion, and older buds who just plain break the mold.

And don't forget to maintain contact with the older buds in your life. If you can't be there in person, please call them, email them, or message them on social media. And if they're using teleconferencing or remote events for the first time, give them a call and help them set things up. Check in on them to see how well they're getting used to these programs. Buy them a computer or an internet package if they don't have one of their own. It's a human right, after all.

Curated by Caitlin Cieri

Send Us Your Stories (Liz and Jewel)

Best Day Recently changed its story submission forms. We have one easy submission form for people to submit their story quickly, and one form for people who are keeping track of how storytelling can improve an older bud's memory. I tested both of them out today, and they both work well. To show you how easy it is to submit and share these stories, I'm sharing the stories I submitted through these forms just two days ago:

Liz Abrams

07.13.2021

Montreal

Not knowing where to rent a room in Montreal, what vicinity or what neighborhood was bilingual- I knew very little French. Finally, one evening going for a walk and to find an English newspaper, I met by coincidence one of my professors from Temple University.
We talked and had a drink at a nearby café and he asked what brought me to Montreal. I told him that I was hired by a manufacturer in the English part of town. They need an English-speaking secretary. He directed me to the Muslim, African neighborhood. Most of the students were from Gambia and Senegal, spoke lovely French, marvelous cuisine; I loved especially their peanut sauce.
I navigated the wonderful metro system and in the underground shopping at every station. Eventually I became very close to the guys and gals from West Africa and enjoyed the festival of the Holy season of Ramadan, the camaraderie almost made me a convert.
Enough of he the letters traveling across the seas. It was reported that there in the village of Gambia was a reporter from New York trying to locate his ancestors and hopefully write a book. Later I found out that the reporter was Alex Haley. The book he penned was Roots- later to become an Emmy awarded movie series. 

Jewel Grace

07.13.2021

Selling My House

So, I was hit by a car and broke my tibial plate in November 2020. I was in rehab until January. When I got home, I found this letter from Spring Garden Towers which said that if I wanted to stay on the waiting list I needed to call by a specific date, a date which was before the day I got home.
So, I called Spring Garden Towers and they said they had a unit for me! I was hopping around on one foot using a walker, but I was overjoyed, ecstatic. I had to pack, get together all the paperwork I needed and prepare to move all in less than 2 months.
So, with the help of church friends I packed. Also, I was given clearance to walk on my foot later in March. My sister recommended a company that would pack, move, and unpack seniors. So, it seemed like forever, but my apartment was finally ready.
After I moved, I began the process of selling my house. My first realtor was awful, doing almost nothing, so I fired him and found some real South Philly realtors. Eventually we started a bidding war which led to the sale of my house. That was Friday. Then today, unexpectedly, my realtor tole me the buyers changed their mind.
Strangely enough, I am okay with this because they weren’t the buyer of my dreams. In fact, I was experiencing buyer’s remorse as I am pretty sure the buyer’s plan was to rent the house.
So, again I will be looking for a buyer for what I hope will be the house of their dreams, just like it was mine.

If you want to transcribe for Best Day, then email us at info@bestdayofmylifesofar.org. You can also share our older buds' adventures by donating to Best Day, subscribing to our newsletter, sending a note to our older buds, or following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And if you or the older buds have stories about using new technology, then you or they can submit stories through our portal right here. We're especially interested to stories from Black older buds, but we're always looking for stories from older buds of color, older buds with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ older buds, older buds of any gender or sex, older buds of any religion, and older buds who just plain break the mold.

And don't forget to maintain contact with the older buds in your life. If you can't be there in person, please call them, email them, or message them on social media. And if they're using teleconferencing or remote events for the first time, give them a call and help them set things up. Check in on them to see how well they're getting used to these programs. Buy them a computer or an internet package if they don't have one of their own. It's a human right, after all.

Curated by Caitlin Cieri

A Mock Moth (Norman, Joan and Rochele)

Last Tuesday, we had a mock story slam in the style of The Moth. The World Cafe said they were hosting The Moth's first live show in October, so we decided to have all the older buds telling five minute stories, off the cuff, with no notes or props, based on the theme "spooky." The good news is everyone had incredible stories, some of which inspired even more stories and interesting conversations. Several older buds had surgery before, or their family members had surgery, and even a successful surgery can lead to an interesting story.

The bad news is that we were competing with the sound of PSC's air conditioner, which meant that the people on Zoom couldn't always hear the people at PSC, and the people at PSC couldn't always hear the people on Zoom. We may need some speakers for the computer, or to hook it up to a large screen TV. Also, many of our older buds came back in person after months of not even coming to Zoom sessions, so we kind of threw them in the deep end by going straight into a story slam.

To celebrate our progress on in-person sessions and our hopes about The Moth, we're featuring stories from our returning older buds:

Norman Cain

10.08.2020

In Touch

I don’t have a story today. I had a lot of business to take care of this morning. But I can speak a little on things that I’ve been doing and what’s going on in my life now in terms of my activities. Of course I have Best Day on Thursdays, and before Best Day I’m with the poetry group that’s facilitated by one of our members on Best Day up at Center in the Park. And we do our poetry in the mornings. So we get up from 10:30 to 12 and then I have an hour to come to our Best Day. That group in Center in the Park is by Victoria and 14th. I’ve already fallen in love with my Chromebook and I decided to have Word placed on it and miraculously, it was only going to cost me seven dollars a month and it works out better than what has been the Google type app that it has on there. Also, I would like to say I’ve been by phone in touch with Brenda, one of our friends, at least two or three times in the last two weeks, by phone. And I ran into Joan a couple weeks ago, one of our dedicated members, right, and she’s doing good because we sort of have a thing going on between members of 509, staying in touch with one another. We couldn’t find Joan for a while, but she’s doing very good. From time to time, Miss Abrams she comes to us, she’s very busy, so I’ve been in contact with her. So in spite of the pandemic, we seem to be able to find a way to come together. Years ago I didn’t want anything at all to do with the computers but they’re kind of coming in handy right now. Next week I really should have a story going on, so much happened to me between the last couple of days. That’s about all I have for right now but it’s so good to see everyone.
Brenda, I don’t believe Brenda has an email address. Liz has an email address, maybe, I’m quite sure she has an email address. I gave her your number, phone number, and she wanted to call you because she’s been trying to get on for some time so you can talk to her about that.
She probably does now that I think about it, what she has going on with her church activities corresponds with Best Day. I just remembered that, but I keep her informed about what’s going on with our activities here.

Joan Bunting

05.16.2019 

My Most Joyous Time

In my senior years my most joyous time is when I think about my children because I overhead my foster mother tell a friend that I couldn’t have children according to the doctor. That happened when I was twelve years old. When I was eleven I had my appendix removed. Two months later somehow I developed an infection and had two more operations. I had just turned twelve years old.
Well, I bore six wonderful children, all healthy, twenty six or seven grandchildren and I’ve lost count of great grandchildren and twenty some. I just feel so blessed. And all of my wonderful children shows their love for me.
I have two boys, which are the oldest and I have four girls.
When I think about them I just thank God and get to smiling.
They’re not perfect but I know that they love me.

Rochelle R. Tynes

06.18.2020

It's Only Temporary

I say that too, and um I know sometimes when I talk like this people are like “Oh here we go again” but I wanna know where is people safe. If the Lord has promised to stay by you and help you through everything, then why aren’t you believing that you’re not going to be one of those people that just go? The Lord know what he doing. I just don’t understand why some people they just, I mean if they hear that someone has the virus, they are like “oh” and expect them to die tomorrow. It doesn’t work like that. If it’s two percent and the Lord- I’m under the impression that what the Lord has for you is for you and if you goin’ get it, you goin’ get it and if you’re not you’re not. That’s the way it is.

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And don't forget to maintain contact with the older buds in your life. If you can't be there in person, please call them, email them, or message them on social media. And if they're using teleconferencing or remote events for the first time, give them a call and help them set things up. Check in on them to see how well they're getting used to these programs. Buy them a computer or an internet package if they don't have one of their own. It's a human right, after all.

Curated by Caitlin Cieri