Today is St. Patrick's day, usually an excuse for people my age to indulge in "kegs and eggs" gatherings, take the day off of work for no damn good reason, and drink green beer and poorly-pulled Guinness.

Today marks for me one year since I started working with the Wise Elders at Raphael House, although I've been gone for about a month now. Trying to re-engage a program that in its past had been robust and incredible was a challenge. Unfortunately, because of the changes that have happened at Raphael House, I doubt that the program will continue.

When Raphael House was first getting started on Sutter Street, the original grants required that the community establish programs for the neighborhood elderly, many of whom were in need of the communal experience and life which was at the heart of life in that place. Some pretty incredible people brought this all to life, starting poetry groups, sewing circles, craft clubs, exercise classes, outdoor explorations, all for folks of retirement age. There was a senior lounge set aside on the first floor, and special holiday meals for those whose families were gone or far away. As the community shifted and changed, this part of Raphael House disappeared.

In 2010, we made the first attempt to try this again. I input data, sorted names and addresses, planned menus and activities, worked with Carmela to bring this all together. Initially it was difficult. For the first handful of weeks, we had Jerry and Sally, who were longtime friends of Raphael House, and later a few others who straggled along. We met once a week for tea and a hearty snack, and some sort of activity like painting or writing or games. For months we labored along averaging about 5 or 6 people each week. When I left a few weeks ago, we had doubled our numbers!

I really miss these folks. Sally with her self-effacing jokes, Jerry with his interminable stories, Gayle with her enthusiastic craftiness and penchant for activism, Jonny with his quiet manner, Mary with her hesitant openness to new things, Grace with her helpfulness and care for others, Mike with his children's book about Brazil, Joe with his flirty jokes, and all the rest with each of their own lovely quirks and traits.

The best part is that we got to be together.

I don't know that this will continue for much longer, and certainly there is little support for re-establishing the kind of program there was before. But this experience has definitely got me thinking about moving toward some sort of career working with older folks.