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Coming on this trip I really didn’t know what to expect.  When I heard that we were painting part of an old porch and putting up railings plus making stairs I was a little disappointed.  In all of the stories I heard before coming on ASP all the projects that had been done seemed much more meaningful than a porch.  My group was told that our homeowner Olmalene had leukemia and is in remission and gets retested next month.  Her son 49 year old Arnie has an undiagnosed bone disease that keeps him in pain.  The new porch was to be made and the floor of it painted so when it rained on it she wouldn’t slop and fall like she has in the past.  This made work seem more meaningful but it was still tedious and boring.  Instead of a mosey Monday we had a couple of  mosey days, but as the week progressed my attitude changed. 

In addition to the porch we took on under pinning in the back and got to know Olmalene and her situation better.  Raw sewage is flowing out from underneath Olmalene’s trailer making her front yard muddy and pretty smelly.  Her toilet doesn’t flush well at all and her sink backs up.  This hit me pretty hard because I am fortunate enough to have great plumbing and to find her plumbing so scary.  This really pushed me to want to make Olmalene’s port and house as beautiful as possible. 

As we were finishing the porch I could tell it would be well used by Olmalene and her two dogs when we pulled up Friday Olmalene and her dogs Spanker and Tinkerbelle were sitting on the porch relaxing in the sun, waiting for us.

Friday was the most amazing day of ASP for me because it was awesome to sit on the porch with Olmalene knowing that she loved what we had done.  I finally understood that ASP is a week reminder that everything in life is hit or miss.  Sometimes you get the more exciting jobs and some days you get the tedious stuff.  Sometimes you get the rain washing away your fresh coat of paint and some days you get sun drying it. However I am happy to say that I am no longer disappointed in my project.  I know that we have been a huge help to Olmalene by giving her something to really enjoy.  All this week I’ve heard how the theme this year is racing and everything is it or miss.  The rain washing away paint, the jobs you get but the point is to keep moving to find joy and meaning in things.  How the most important part is to finish.  In ASP and life we will hit snags in the road and fall down but we have to get up and keep moving.  Olmalene and Arnie are running hard health races but hopefully the porch will be a place where they can relax, find joy and strengthen themselves before tacking off for the finish line.