Bundles of Blessings
A storyteller steps before an audience of wheelchair-bound elderly residents of a care home and wonders if he’ll be heard. A story works its magic.
It’s July 1st — Canada Day in my hometown of Hamilton, Ontario. The day is hot and humid, and I’m dripping with sweat after walking from the parking lot to the front door of the Hamilton Continuing Care Center. I’m here to offer storytelling as part of the residence’s monthly religious service. The Care Centre houses 64 elderly residents who require long-term nursing care, and most of them suffer from dementia. My brother Mark has been coming to offer an hour-long service consisting of hymn-singing, prayer, and an uplifting spiritual message on the first Sunday of every month for nearly a year.
Due to the holiday, the Centre is understaffed, and arrangements for the service have been forgotten. However, within 15 minutes, the nurses manage to bring ten elderly men and women into the room in wheelchairs. Mark greets them by name and introduces me. Though a couple of the residents smile and shake hands, the rest seem oblivious to our presence, lost in the haze of dementia. I wonder why I’m there and how I’ll reach this audience if they’re not even aware of me.
We hand out hymn books and help the residents find the right page, holding their books upright. We sing the first of our hymns accompanied by a woman from…
