Helping Others by Helen Henderson

 

Windmaster Legend by Helen Henderson
Click the title for purchase information

April, the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian and Julian calendars and the first of four months to have a length of 30 days. Last month I used the name of the month as a verb and pictured prancing horses. To come up with some inspiration for this post, I went to the National Day Calendar. The days for April range from the tasty (National Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day) to the historic, National Ellis Island Family History Day, The one item I love to eat. The other? At least one set of my ancestors immigrated from the old country and I have researched whether or not they came through Ellis Island.

Normally I don't disclose too personal information, but I'm breaking that tradition to acknowledge Volunteer Recognition Day with some thoughts on answering the call for help.

The aftermath of Superstorm Sandy

Disasters can bring out the best and the worst of people. After the recent tornadoes in Tipton County, Tennessee, the area pulled together. While age and other reasons meant I held down the homefront, a family member spent a day helping pick up debris. It reminded me of another disaster. The largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, an event referred to as Superstorm Sandy. Taking in a family member who was without power doesn't qualify as volunteering. However, helping people move out of a storm damaged house, doing the demolition work necessary to remove flood-damaged sheetrock does. Then for several years afterwards, the volunteer help continued as the rebuilding efforts continued.

The ultimate critic of whether a job was done right.

Over the years of remodeling a house built in 1915, I have observed more than one person assume the position upon entering a room where work was being done. No, I don't mean the spread-legged lean against a wall for a pat-down search. The men stood with hands on their hips and surveyed my efforts. As part of Superstorm Sandy recovery,  I was helping a contractor tape and spackle a newly-sheetrocked room. He was less obvious and to my pleasure, and surprise considering it was my first time taping joints, the work was acceptable. 

Being in period garb helped me get close enough
to take for this picture.

An interest in history has yielded other volunteer opportunities, and I still use the experience gained at them today. I don't build physical houses, but fantasy worlds. I may not travel to the past except in reenactments, but it helps me understand my characters travel through times past. Hours of unpaid work have been spent as director of a local history museum, caring for their artifacts, or digging out fragments of history with trowel and screen. I won't say where or when it was, but at one major history event, I did more than collect money at the admissions gate and keep the cars moving. I parked hundreds of cars. What was even more fun was helping get the cars out of the park when the event ended. I even had the change to use my whistle, a handy tool to get a driver's attention to make them stop and wait their turn, or to get them moving forward.

Whether you have volunteered your time and talents or been the recipients of other's efforts, I hope you enjoyed these memories.

To purchase the Windmaster Novels: BWL

~Until next month, stay safe and read.   Helen

Helen Henderson lives in western Tennessee with her husband. While she doesn’t have any pets in residence at the moment, she often visits a husky who have adopted her as one the pack. Find out more about her and her novels on her BWL author page.