By Sharon Alexander | Lead Teaching Artist
Your gifts make it possible for us to provide art supplies and staffing to bring the healing power of art to children and their families as they face medical challenges. Often we serve the siblings of patients who are undergoing critical treatment. We wanted to share a story about how your gifts made it possible for us to serve a little sister who exuded love – for her brother and for all of us.
Recently Rosy* (age 6) joyfully announced, “I want to be a volunteer when I grow up!” This fantastic statement came off the heels of many consecutive months in the hospital. Her teenage brother, the patient, was very private and introverted. Rosy, however, was a true ‘people person.’ She knew everyone by name and knew which volunteer would arrive next. CHAP and the army of hospital volunteers had become the everyday figures in Rosy’s life during her brother’s treatment. She embraced us all, literally and figuratively.
Her brother Jesse* had been through so much. In autumn, his young body endured weeks in the ICU. Rosy could be found walking the hallways with her father during this tenuous time. Occasionally, Rosy would join CHAP doing beading outside of Pediatric Surgery. Her brother wasn’t in surgery, but she and her dad knew they take refuge with us. I wanted so much to spare her the scene in the ICU.
The heaviness seemed too much for girl of her age. Usually Rosy was vibrant, but there was one Friday afternoon when she slept in a beanbag in the corner while we worked around her. She was utterly exhausted.
Rosy was an instant friend to many. She had a gift with the littler ones. She loved to assist one 2-year-old patient in his red wagon. They would collaborate on paintings. The patient would remain perched in his chariot. Rosy would pull up alongside in a chair. With a ready spirit, she would blend paint colors for him and hand him new paintbrushes when he extended his arm in request. It was a pleasure to be a witness to these interactions.
In our experience, the kids at the hospital just want to have some control. In a recent staff meeting, we reflected on how this little girl would flit from one art project to the next. Occasionally Rosy would be focused and could complete a task. More often, she would get distracted and start many projects and finish few of them. We always allow this, providing a space where the art-maker can follow their muse.
My colleague Carolyn noticed that Rosy was drawn to squishing clay. Carolyn would squirt tempera paint into the clay and Rosy would don a pair of purple plastic gloves and massage the goopy mess. Regressive and sloppy.
There were a few occasions when my colleague Mary and I poured tempera paint directly into Rosy’s hands. With great delight, Rosy would make handprints on huge pieces of white butcher paper. It looked fantastic. Then she’d ask for more paint and go over the beautiful handprints. In the end, it was usually smears of brown with a few highlights of army green. Rosy did this so happily with her 8-year old friend Missy*, another patient’s sibling. They had a blast painting this way. Mary and I had a blast squeezing paint into their palms and listening to their squeals. They were truly having fun in the midst of all the chaos.
Rosy relied heavily on the hospital volunteers, Child Life staff and CHAP. When we saw Rosy’s parents, we always made a point to tell them their daughter was a good girl and that we enjoyed making art with her. Their gratitude was obvious and Mom would grace us with her beautiful smile.
On a recent Friday, Mary and I taped down some bedsheets to serve as tarps and let Rosy and a little 3-year old patient splatter paint. Once again, we saw that these messy releases – in the midst of an environment that is so sterile by necessity – were the best fit.
In the end, Rosy’s brother passed away. He died in the middle of the night, in his mother’s arms. Rosy helped make handprints of Jesse with her mother.
When we learned about Jesse’s death the next day – when his family was already headed home after so many long days in the hospital – we put together an offering for Rosy, a Valentine’s Day care package with assorted goodies. Carolyn tucked a bracelet she made for Rosy into the bag as we packaged it for mailing. The gift will greet Rosy at home as she begins a journey of grief. She shared so much during her time at Doernbecher. We all did.
*Names have been changed to honor confidentiality
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