New Do Care client for me.

The staff at Do Care don't muck around. The week after my Japanese friend died, my co-ordinator N. was on the phone, asking me if I would like to take on another client. I was inclined to refuse at first, but I asked her if she had many people looking for a companion, and she said yes. So she came over the following week with a list of people, mostly elderly and none of them living close by except one lady. This lady is the same age as me, lives a few blocks away, and suffers from depression due to chronic ill health and associated disability. My heart went out to her straight away, as I compared my active lifstyle to hers. N. gave me her address and phone number, and set up a day and time for me to visit.

I stayed with J. for two hour on my first visit. We got on so well, and found that we shared many interests, including opshopping! But she hadn't been to an opshop for a few years due to her health, so I suggested that on my next visit, I take her to Savers, one of the biggest opshops around.

On The Day, I picked her up about 10.30 and we got to Savers about 10 minutes later. Well! Did J have a ball! She got a nice pile of clothes, and because I'm a regular donator to Savers, I have a discount card, so J got 15% discount off her purchases, which made her even happier! Some of the dresses were too long, and she was going to put them back, but I said no, keep them. It would only take me a few minutes to shorten them. After an hour at Savers, we went on to Vinnies, then back to Eltham. I had some shopping to do at Coles, and J was happy to follow me around in there, and afterwards we finished up with a coffee at one of the local cafes.

I suggested to J that we visit a different op shop once a month, and she thought that was a super idea! Next month I'll take her to the new Salvos store in Watsonia. It's been there a while, but they have doubled the shop size by purchasing the office next door and knocking down the dividing wall. It's always fun to go opshopping with a friend, but even more special when the friend is someone who doesn't leave her home except to go for medical appointments. Lovely to share her enjoyment of what is for me a simple day out.