WHY I VOLUNTEER

I volunteer because my parents taught me to do so by their example and gave me, as foundation in life, lots of love. As the eldest of nine children I had ample opportunity to learn the value of caring and sharing. That experience taught me other lessons which continue to influence all my activities -- resourcefulness, the ability to articulate, tolerance, respect for diversity, unconventional but effective conflict resolution techniques, the need to laugh and to forgive. These were all good lessons to bring to volunteering.

Mom and Dad instilled in us a sense of responsibility not only toward each other but also toward our fellow man. The instruction "love one another" was taken seriously in our home and its implication clear and

action-orientated. It meant we had to help others-we had to let others help us-we were not in this world alone.

With that background it is not surprising that life has provided me with many and varied volunteer experiences. What is surprising is the path that my volunteering has taken since my mother's death. She died gently from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, in May 1989 at age 67.

In months we wished longer, the months that we cared for Mum, ALS consumed every energy our family could muster. The disease was unknown, there was no treatment, and we had to learn as we went, had to work together, had to receive and accept assistance. It was exhausting as we coped as best we could with an illness that served up loss after loss.

Sometime after, when thinking about all the resources our family, by virtue of size, not perfection, possessed, my thoughts turned to other families, other loved ones. And so, with the closing of the physical door to my mother's life came the opening of an unexpected door into the lives of others living with the same disease.

It is a combination of incredible circumstances that make this volunteering possible. My husband provides quiet support in countless ways and I couldn't do what I do without him. Hospice/Palliative Care offers principles and a philosophy which I treasure and which enkindles passion.

The individuals and families to whom I try to give support show me the true strength of the human spirit, provoke awe of that force which is life, and trust in the endlessness of love. The beauty of the Island on which I live will never let my soul despair and lets me feel the harmony of the universe and the interconnectedness of all.

And from time to time, I receive little and not so little gifts from above, blessed ones, that seem to come just when needed. I am thankful for them and for all the other manifestations of love that keep me volunteering.

Marie Salamoun-Dunne (Executive Director PEI)

Thanks so much Marie for sharing this story with us I think we all have to take a look at our roles in life sometimes

George

"The significant problems we face cannot be resolved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." Albert Einstein

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