Visit to Southern Tier Hospice: September 8, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
My First Talk of This Trip
Today I would visit the Southern Tier Hospice and give my first talk of the walk.
I was tired, but adrenaline began to kick in, as I wondered what the hospice people would make of my presentation.
I woke at around 6.15 and packed all my gear into my backpack. I was sad to be leaving Linda and Martin's place, as they had made me so welcome.
By 7.50 Linda was driving me the 2.6 miles to the hospice office...the same 2.6 miles I had walked on Sunday.
A Flurry of Introductions at Southern Tier Hospice
We got to the office and I was soon bombarded with introductions to the staff members. I liked that there was one woman, Judy, who remembered me from 1988!
Margie Rodgers, the spiritual counselor was there. Paul Rossi was introducing me, Bonnie Harrison of the hospice Board, Mary Ann Starbuck, the executive director, a nurse called Martha, the coordinator Millie (who also responded to Ahmet or Badger!), a tall man called Sam, a young man called Dan, a Pam, a Pat, a Joy and the receptionist Diane...not to mention many more. There was also a woman called Juli who had a dog called Taya. Two high school students, Kerry and Ashley who were starting a group at school to support hospice had also been invited.
My Presentation: Adventures from 1988
Everyone gathered in a meeting room and it was time for my presentation about my old journey, chronicled in my book , Beyond the Setting Sun.
I showed the picture of Duncansby Head in Scotland, with cliffs and jagged rock spires sticking out of the sea. That was where my 6,000 mile journey had begun in 1988, after I had worked in Leeds Infirmary and decided to carry out a long walk to help people with cancer and other serious illnesses.
Choking Up: Remembering My Mother
The second picture in the presentation was of my mum and me. When I saw it, I was instantly choked up. Even after six years, the old grief was still there. I had told people that the walk now in 2009 was in memory of my mum, who had died from pancreatic cancer.
From there I got into the story of how I walked 1,100 miles through Britain to raise $4,000, then headed to New York.
Left stranded at the World Trade Center I slept in bushes beneath the Twin Towers. Then, camping in New York State, collapsing from heat exhaustion at 105 degrees, sleeping in woods with snakes and bears...the stories and pictures told the story.
My Message
The message I had been spreading in that first walk—and this one, too—was that hospices were there to help people with serious illnesses, but that hospices needed help too...they needed volunteers and support from their local community.
The Story of Hank Tubbs
As I went on, I talked about Hank Tubbs. I had sat with Hank on the porch of a log cabin in Minnesota as the Northern Lights swirled through the sky, moving like swooping angels up above us. Hank had a disease that affected his lungs. He needed oxygen to breathe and his heart had become enlarged. The doctors had given him months to live, but he had held on to see his first grandchild be born. His other daughter became pregnant and he held on until his second grandchild was born. Several grandchildren later he was still alive. I told how he had tried new drugs to treat his illness and how he talked to other people with terminal illnesses to encourage them to take each day as it comes, make the most of life and help others where you can.
The Story of Rae Kuenning
I talked of surviving at temperatures down to minus thirty in the Rockies. I also talked about a lady in Montana called Rae Kuenning, who lived up a mountain. Because of hospice nurses she could stay at home. It was the view of the mountains and being with friends and family that kept her smiling as she battled with cancer.
The Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Death Valley
In pictures I showed the journey to the Grand Canyon, to Las Vegas where a showgirl was a hospice volunteer who helped people in their homes. Then there were the places I stayed crossing the desert...from a volunteer fire station where the firemen were drunk on tuaca whisky, to the Amargosa Opera House, where a woman in her sixties danced and sang to entertain people on the edge of Death Valley. The story of finding $200 in Death Valley, which enabled me to get to the Sierras, showed how lucky I had been.
Snowshoeing over the Sierras and Ending in San Francisco
Then came the journey over the Sierras for three days on snow shoes, past places where there had been avalanches to reach Yosemite. The story ended with me reaching San Francisco, visiting AIDS patients and having the mayor of San Francisco proclaim March 21m, 1989 as Colin Skinner day.
My Inspiration
I was talking to people who did the work of hospice every day. They were the people who inspired me to keep walking even when it hurt or I would rather be doing anything but walk.
At the end of the talk Margie Rodgers said how amazed she was by my journey. In the room people appreciated what the walk had been about.
Margie came up and gave me a hug. She also said that my Mum obviously meant a lot to me. As she said this I burst into tears. It was an emotional meeting.
Wrapping Up: Donations, Book Signings, Interviews
I handed over the $220 in donations that I'd been given by all the generous people I’d met on the road since August 21. From the sale of the books another $120 went to the hospice.
As the talk ended newspaper reporters arrived to do interviews. The whole staff of the Southern Tier Hospice gathered by the hospice sign for photographs. I gave my interviews to encourage people to support the Southern Tier Hospice. The last reporter took photos as I walked with Taya the dog and hospice staff down the road towards Corning.
With the photos and stories taken I could then go and eat some breakfast. I signed copies of the book for 16 of the staff. In Linda's copy I thanked her for taking care of me and introducing me to the Flight of the Conchords.
Gifts from the Hospice
A couple of hospice staff gave me money to help me on my journey. The hospice staff also gave me some sunscreen and cards to use at Dunkin Donuts and Wendy's. There was also a card signed by all the staff, with a poem by Millie.
I was due to head back to the end of Route 415 to start walking, but a TV reporter was due to arrive. He showed up and I gave an interview on the grass outside the hospice office. Mary Ann Starbuck gave her side of the story and the second TV interview of the journey was done. Paul and Mary Ann were happy to have had the newspaper and television people there.
I was happy. I had met the people behind the Southern Tier Hospice. In just a few hours I had caught a glimpse of the amazing characters who brought care to the people in the Corning area. I hoped that what I had done would help them.
By about 11.45 am the show was over. I said goodbye to Linda. Paul Rossi then took by car back to the end of Route 415. Paul said it had been an honour to meet me. For me I felt lucky to have met the hospice workers. Seeing them had breathed life back into me.
Moving On
Paul drove off and I was left by the roadside. I changed into my shorts, slung the pack on my back and walked down Michigan Road.
Michigan ended at the Perkinsville-Patchinsville Road and Route 63 took me to Dansville.
After my two days with a light pack the normal weight of the pack cut into my shoulders. My feet were sore, too. The day was hot again, with the sun high in a clear blue sky.
A Free Room Awaits Me!
At Dansville I turned off 63 on to 36. Mary Ann Starbuck had contacted the Hospice of Livingston County and Carol Thompson there had arranged a free room for me at the Country Inn and Suites in the town of Mount Morris. The manager there, Doug, had said that all I needed to do was show up...any time during the night.
At Dansville I ate at a Burger King close to the end of town, then walked on down Route 36.
As night fell I walked in the dark between two prisons near the small town of Sonyea. Lights and endless amounts of razor wire were set either side of the small town. I hoped no misstook me for an escaped convict, as I shuffled down the road.
Something was wrong with my left foot. A blister there on my sole had spread and I knew I would have to do something about it.
Down the dark road I had to step aside to avoid trucks. By 10 pm, about 9.5 hours after starting from the end of Route 415, I hobbled into Mount Morris. It was great to see the Inn. As I walked in a young woman with short dark hair on the reception asked:
“Are you Colin Skinner?”
I had to initial and sign a piece of paper, but no payment had to be made. It seemed there was such a thing as a free lunch...unless you count blisters, sunburn and 370 miles as payment.
A Jacuzzi – and an Inventory of a Sore Body
The young girl told me I had a Jacuzzi room. I told her about the journey from Kennedy Airport and she was impressed. She handed me the key cards and I shuffled off.
My room was 113. I went inside and began to fill the tub.
Sitting in the big tub as the water slowly rose I looked at my reflection in a mirror. There were red marks on my shoulders from the pack. My neck, head and arms were red from the sun. On my left arm there were small blisters from the sunburn and sweat. On my back was a rash from the rub of the sweat dampened pack. My feet stung and seemed to throb with my pulse. On my legs were numerous scabs from mosquito bites. At the tops of my legs were sores from the rubbing of sweaty shorts for mile after mile. I was surviving, but my body was falling apart.
