Young at Heart

Deise Day Centre

For BTG I got the privilege of volunteering at Deise day Centre in Dungarvan. It was a wonderful experience, and I met a few amazing people. I walked in and the first person I met was John; he told me about his life and family. Sadley many of them had passed away including his wife he'd been with 53 years. John also told me about his younger years: how he was in the war, the many places in Europe he's traveled to, he studied English like me and enjoys art. Next, I met Ann Marie, she was originally from the Bronx but fell in love with an Irish man. Ane Marie really likes "to cruise" she said she's been on over 36 of them both in the States and Europe. Her grandson Jared also volunteers at the center with his friend. Finally, I met my favorite person there Eddie. Eddie had personality to say the least and one of the thickest accents I've heard but I did my best to understand and he liked to chat. He told me all about his life, enough to ask me the question "why am I telling you all of this?" He was sweet and really liked music, he liked it so much that he decided that all of us volunteering should sing, and we did. "Molly Malone", "Can't Help Falling in Love", and "Singing in the Rain" were the songs we song after Eddie said we'd only be singing a verse. We also ended up singing "Happy Birthday" three times because there were many birthdays in the building. It really was the swiftest hour and a half my life. I enjoyed the conversation, the joy on their faces and the questions they asked me. Yeats writes "Their hearts have not grown old" In "The Wils Swans at Coole". That line applies perfectly to the people I met today. They were giddy to tell me stories, they mentioned their teenage years, they laughed with me, and you could see it in their faces in actions, they were young at heart and had so much more left to say.