Feel Good Mode

Ahhhh...what a day it turned out to be.

Today was a good day. A busy day, an exhausting day, but a good day. Today I joined with a group of old friends and helped at the Cheshire Home. I used to help with charity work quite a lot way back when I was in high school and the Cheshire Home was one of my favourite. This is besides the Salvation Army Home and sometimes the local hospital that I used to visit. And then I went to college and became very busy.

Last week a friend who was from the same group from way back when I wasn't busy called and asked if I wanted to help out like old times. Said I was not going to be disappointed solely because he knew I would enjoy the Cheshire Home. He didn't give me much to work with except asking me to be at the place before 9:00am. And he didn't even give me a chance to tell him I wasn't able to make it at the specified time. He cheerfully said,"I'll see you at 9. Saturday" and hung up.

And so just before lunch today and about two hours late, I arrived at a familiar place and was greeted by my friend. Said we will do this about every 6 weeks, and today was our first go at it. And just like that I was a part of the team again.

I saw a few familiar faces. Teachers and helpers. Said my hello and then it was time to entertain the kids. I counted 25 special kids and my crew were already deep into the programme. I took over and did my thing - the guitar and some songs mostly. Some kids were grateful, some were chatty, others were subdued which was expected of a tough crowd such as it was. This goes for both the givers and the receivers.

It is a gift to be able to participate in something that reminds us how fortunate we are. At the end I was exhausted, hungry having not taken time to eat, but satiated with something much greater. For a few hours today, I felt I made a real difference. And I feel good.

It's the little things.

It's now 9:48pm, on a lovely Saturday night. I feel I should just continue feeling good by hitting the pub now.

Over to you, Hikaru.