ÿþ<html> <head> <title>Old Friends Pick Up the Pieces</title> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../stylesheet.css" media="screen"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> </head> <body leftmargin="2" topmargin="2" marginheight="2" marginwidth="2" bgcolor= "silver" background="../lt_grey.jpg" lang="EN-US" link="#ac9100" vlink="#ac9100" alink="#ac9100" class="normal"> <p class="pagehead">Old Friends Pick Up the Pieces</p> <p><i>By Ann O Connor</i> <p>Shel Silverstein, author of <i>The Giving Tree,</i> wrote a book less well known, perhaps, called, <i>The Missing Piece Meets the Big O.</i> It is all about finding a place and a purpose in life, in all stages  being whole, getting on a roll. Both books point out our dependence on others, our reliance on those individuals who reach out, who are there to make us round and whole, able to roll! <p>My great guy, Frank, is challenged by Alzheimer's disease, a disorder of "missing pieces," He works hard, 24 hours  seven days, to stay on a roll embracing the challenges of this disease day in and day out. Gratefully, family, friends, neighbors, caregivers have actively sought opportunity to reach out and have succeeded. Their success is written on Frank's face. <p> We recoil in horror at "man's inhumanity to man" - accounts in the newspaper daily and nightly on the TV. We need to know about the "good stuff," the caring, the giving that goes on behind closed doors, here in our town, in our parish. We need to share the good news, the GREAT news. Hence my story follows. <p> Every Friday, no matter the weather, the season, at 10 a.m. promptly the door bell rings and in strides Cliff and Randall <p>"Good Morning," "Hello, Commander," "How are you?" "What puzzle are we working on today?" <p>They gather under the floor lamp that shines warmth, light and fun on the puzzle table. For many months now this table has been Frank s corner of the world, his place on the road <p>When they finally settle down to business, to find the straight edges, frame the puzzle, the room resounds with "high fives," "ya-hoos," "good find," and "yeah Captain." Once in a while they share a smattering of gossip or local news. And I m out, on the road doing errands or doing nothing. Twelve noon this celebration of brotherhood ends with, "See you next Friday! Call if you need anything before then." It s an exercise in belonging! <p>"It was a missing a piece<br> And it was not happy<br> So it set off in search of its missing piece<br> And as it rolled along<br> It sang this song,<br> I m round and rolling<br> I m found and fitting." <p>Illness makes for a healthy, whole and holy community, a place where we can reach out, become whole, ``on a roll.  So many people can tell their own experiences. Please do! <p>Because we are all called to goodness and we respond, we are called to reach out and we do. Let s celebrate our connection and recognize a bit of heaven on earth. There's a lot of that about and we need to spread the good word. <!--WEBBOT bot="HTMLMarkup" startspan ALT="Site Meter" --> <a href="http://s10.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=s10stmarysparish" target="_top"> <img src="http://s10.sitemeter.com/meter.asp?site=s10stmarysparish" alt="Site Meter" width="1" height="1" border=0></a> <!--WEBBOT bot="HTMLMarkup" Endspan --> </p> </body> </html>