A'Compassing We Will Go!

I love dropping off the Compass in person, altho I ask people in New Directions to bring it to their own psychiatrists and therapists.

I'm the kinda guy who likes to get the hard things over with first.

Horsham Clinic.


Ooh, be very careful going over the speed bumps.

Dave Mauermann came bounding down the stairs to greet me. We chatted a few minutes, then stepped outside into the newly spring air.

During our ice storm, their electricity was knocked out for three days, so they were on generator-power and the patients never knew a thing. They got their meals on time, all the electricity worked, and the facility ran as smooth as the Pennypack Creek.

That's the kind of responsibility David has!



Dropped off a bagfull of Compasses at the new Psych Ward at Abington Memorial Hospital. Linda, one of the nurses, remembered me, and we hugged one another.

She always looks great and loved my new blond hairdo. Yes, I answered her, I am having more fun.

The day before I dropped off a carton, which contains 75 big fat copies, to Bucks County Office of Mental Health. Once I pulled into the compound, it took me 15 minutes to find the right building.

While I was lost, I saw the name of a psychologist I'd heard of, Ken Sperling, PhD, popped my head into his office - he was with a client - and asked if he wanted copies.

He had never heard of Ruth Deming or New Directions - tho I'd heard of him - and left four copies on a chair in the waiting room.

Oh, listen to this! There was an office of NHS - Northwestern Human Services. I used to work at an NHS, so I said to the guy who was unlocking the door, Would you like a few copies of the Compass mental health mag?

I flashed it his way.



I'd have to check with my supervisor, he said, and she's not in right now.

@###^%$())&%&$$

That's what I think!

After Abington hospital, which was tough, b/c it's on the fifth floor, and I jogged over from the Abington post office, I delivered it to Collaborative Care on York Road.

"It's right after Citizens Bank," I told myself as I drove thru the bank and then into the driveway, dodging a pothole, of Sharon Katz's center.



Her wholistic center is located in an old house. Her new office is in the Executive Mews.

I found a dolly in her vestibule and schlepped the Compass in that way. It was a slim dolly so the huge heavy box kept slipping off.

Getting in the doors was murder. A male patient sitting in the waiting room could have gotten up and held the door open for me, but did not.

Let that be a lesson to us all, Dear Reader! Look for ways to alleviate the burdens of others.

e

On the way home I stopped at the home of Michael and Elizabeth Garofola. Showed Michael the photo-essay we did on his brother A Tree for Tony. He studied it closely and said that someone removed the tennis ball Michael had placed in the deer-proof fencing.

He said that he was thinking that tennis season is starting and Anthony would be out playing now, were he still alive.

Tony Garofola taken at his brother's house.


Coming up, Ladies and Gentlemen!

Pennypack Trust Creek Cleanup. Mark your calendars. It's a New Directions Tradition.