Seeing Her Face

I opened the email and tears came to my eyes. I certainly wasn't expecting to cry but my reaction reminded me of the thing I love most about my job. I get to serve people of all ages who have developmental disabilities and ensure that they are provided the services and supports they need at any given time in their lives. I get to be the one who meets with them, and their circle of support, to not just ask how they are doing but to see, smell, feel, and even get a taste for how they are. I walk into their homes, schools, day programs, work sites, and sometimes they come to my work site. I get to walk with them as they give me a tour of the places they spend their time and use their talents. They often show me their treasures and I get to learn from them what's important in their lives. I get to see them interact with the people who support them and see the bonds that are established between them. I get to make silly jokes and hear them laugh or see them roll their eyes at me. I get to be teased by them. 

Right now, during this Covid 19 shelter in place time, I only get to call them. I don't like being limited to just one sense and didn't realize how deeply it was affecting me until I got that email. Along with a quarterly report, I asked a care provider for a picture of the person we serve. I didn't know how much I needed to see her face. It was just supposed to be a substitute (albeit a lesser one) for not being able to see her in person and a solution to not being able to communicate with her on the phone because she is nonverbal. It served those professional purposes but was so much more important than those things. It was just what I didn't know, I needed. In that moment as I looked at her healthy, beautiful face, the world got blurry but I could clearly see why I work at CVRC.