Lager/Camp (5/23-28/1983)

Monday, May 23, 1983

Went to work at 8:30 for a supposed holiday. We were taking the CP Station kids to spring camp, and I was the physiotherapist assigned for the trip. I helped pack the cars while the Herr & Frau S packed the kids in the bus.

Helen packs her car

Herr S packs the bus

It was a tight fit, and no effort was made to take Ali’s prone board. Oh, well, it’s a vacation after all, and I am just an added attraction. When we took off at 9:00, I was in the car with Bernadette as we followed Jeanette who was taking Helen to pick up her bag in Mühlebrücke. After a gas station stop, we drove up through Sonceboz and Saint-Imier and just before La Chaux-de-Fonds we turned north. We crossed railroad tracks in the village of La Ferrière, where the station was a bus shelter-type shack. Turned on La Chaux-d’Abel and arrived at the vacation home for the handicapped. We had all three apartments in one of the buildings.

I am sharing a room on the ground floor in the back with Bernadette who has charge of Richard. Next door is Helen with Nadia, then Liliane with Ali. Above us are Sylviane with Tanya and Ruth with Andi. Then there is Vreni with Philippe and Sylvia with Patrick. In the apartment next door is Sonia with Mopsi, and Jeanette with Ruth the Praktikantin/student nurse. I started hand pumping air into the therapy balls, but took a break for lunch of vegetable soup and greasy Wurst/sausage. I worked with a couple of the kids as the others cleaned up.

We all went for a walk even though it hadn’t stopped raining all day.

Going for a walk

We followed the road back to the village and stopped at the restaurant. The proprietor opened the rusty double door to allow the wheelchairs to enter. We sat at a corner table in the smoky tavern and ordered drinks. After purchasing cheese, we returned to the vacation home. Dinner was cheese and bread, and Birchermuesli.

Dinnertime

The cheese was really good, but made me thirsty as I drank a lot of tea. I worked with Pädi as the others gathered around to sing songs as Sylvia played the guitar.

After the kids were put to bed, the adults gathered to drink wine, and I tried to drink some to help put me to sleep. I left the group to shower at 22:00. I was reading at 23:00 when Bernadette and Sonia came sneaking in with sheets over their heads to scare those who were already sleeping. Actually it was Sonia who was scared, as she locked her door and kept kitchen utensil weapons in bed with her! I went to bed at 23:30.

Tuesday, May 24, 1983

I noted at 1:30 that Bernadette still was not in bed. I slept through when she did come to bed, and I was told that Richard made a lot of noise. Kids started crying about 6:00. Breakfast was supposed to be available from 8:00-10:00, but the door was locked at 8:15. I first worked with Pädi at 8:30, then had breakfast of orange juice and bread with butter and jam. Continued working with kids as it continued to rain outside, with some snow mixed in. Some spring vacation!

The high point of the morning was when Tanya bit Nadia’s finger, although fortunately not hard enough to break the skin. Had a late lunch of spaghetti with a good garlic sauce and salad with a good dressing. Jeanette is doing great as the cook. I also had strawberry ice cream and coffee. I found that the coffee is making my chest ache. I helped clean up, and then everyone disappeared to take naps, I guess. I wrote postcards, then went to the post office with Bernadette driving and Sonia. We tried the post office in at Le Cerneux-Veusil, but it was closed. A lady did come out to say she had not received an express package. We went back to La Ferrière and there we found the package for Pädi. It turned out to be two pairs of Strumpfhosen/tights! Back at camp, most of the kids were painting. I got a telephone call! It was Jan calling about the weekend and rescheduling of kids.

I fed Nadia and we had the singing circle. After putting the kids to bed, the adults had a raclette dinner with salad. Ruth and Vreni went to check on the kids and were gone a looong time. Then we had dessert of apricots baked with an amaretti cookie in the hollow where the pit was, with whipped cream on top. There was white wine with the meal and afterwards Kirsch to help the digestion. My digestion was going to have to work on its own! I helped clean up and 23:30 I went down to the room to find my nightgown tied in knots. Apparently Ruth and Vreni did that to everyone! It was snowing and the others were having a snowball fight and putting snow down each other’s necks. Supposedly they also put a bra on Pädi, as well. Ha, ha, we are at camp!

Wednesday, May 25, 1983

It was quiet outside and fairly bright at 8:00. No more rain! We opened the shades to see a couple inches of snow on the ground.

Snow on the playground

Went up to breakfast at 8:30, but the door was locked. I went next door to find Pädi was ready, and I brought him back to the all-purpose room for therapy. Then breakfast, this time with the addition of cheese. While I treated kids all morning, the others disappeared for long stretches of time (going off to smoke, I think). Lunch of ragout beef, mashed potatoes, and carrots. Nadia’s mother and two sisters came to visit and they brought a coffee cake we had for dessert. I helped to shovel snow this afternoon. It snowed continuously all day. Today we had 25-30 cm/nearly a foot of snow. Some spring camp!

Lager/camp apartments

Some of the kids were dressed to go out in the snow, and built a snowman. I took a walk with Vreni and Phippi towards the swimming pool, past some playground equipment, and back around to the house.

Nadia and Helen

Before dinner I worked with Nadia. Dinner was bread with butter and jam, cheese, hard boiled eggs, tomato wedges, ham slices, and pickles. The kids were put to bed, and I helped with the bathing of Richard. Later we had dessert of fruit salad. My left knee aches. It has been hurting for over a week now when it is in full flexion. Now it just aches.

Thursday, May 26, 1983

The shower was occupied this morning, so I washed up in the lavatory. It was still snowing. Chickadees and other little birds were at a bird feeder outside the dining room window. As usual, Pädi, then breakfast. For jams, we had homemade rhubarb and quince jellies, and apricot jam and honey. I manage to treat six kids before lunch, although a couple of them for a short period of time.

Lunch was soup from a mix with the leftover ragout beef, a salad, then a casserole made with the leftover mashed potatoes with Speck/bacon, and eggs on top. The mashed potatoes had been made with nutmeg in them. I helped clean up as the kids were put down for naps. We had dessert of Negerköpfe or Mohrenköpfe/um, black or Moor’s heads (chocolate covered marshmallow-like sweetened egg white foam) that were given to us by Sonia. As a group we gave chocolate hearts to Jeanette and Ruth the Praktikantin, who have been our cook and assistant.

The kids have been unbelievably livelier here at camp. Pädi laughs much more; he seems to enjoy all the noise around him, the lively conversations and singing. Philippe also laughs with all the stimulation, and he sleeps really well now. Ali is more alert, making more sounds and movement than I have ever seen from him. Mopsi and Pädi have had relatively clear lungs (knock on wood). Tanya has been calmer although she still trembles some. She is no longer all over the place and doesn’t cry as much. She also is eating more on her own, more than usual. I have never seen Nadia laugh and smile so much, and she is a smiler. She is getting more attention than usual and she shows her appreciation! Richard, Pädi, Philippe and Ali are getting the usual amount of attention, while Tanya may be getting less than on the CP Station. Sonia has been very conscientious with Mopsi, and with his mother there, he is getting more attention than usual. Andi is the only one who is showing his negative side, more whining, but he has less room to wander around. While I worked with Nadia, Pädi’s mother and her friend came to visit, and Tanya’s parents came.

Dinner was spaghetti leftovers and fruit tarts, one apple and one rhubarb. That evening Bernadette’s parents came with her boyfriend, and Liliane’s boyfriend came. I visited with Vreni, Ruth, and Sylviane in their apartment. We returned for dessert, having a sherbet cake, a nougat ice cream cake, and strawberries in a wine sauce with whipped cream and cookies. There was toasting with Cointreau. Gosh! I learned that the adults had each contributed something towards the food. Sylviane and Vreni bought the Cointreau, Ruth (the Praktikantin) the nougat ice cream cake, Helen and Sonia the raclette cheese, and Bernadette the Kirsch.

The snow let up, but then it started to rain.

Friday, May 27, 1983

I, myself, have been sleeping like a log; the fresh air or the altitude? Pädi and breakfast, worked with the kids. This time not only the adults disappeared, but sometimes their kids with them. Lunch was a tossed salad, rice and chicken cacciatore, somewhat spicy, and the chicken tasted like pork because bacon was laid across it.

When the kids were being put down for their naps, somehow a young German shepherd got into the house and bounded into the room where Bernadette was changing Richard. The dog was bouncing all around but was aiming to lick Richard’s face. Sylvia’s husband arrived and he dragged the dog back outside. Then Helen came and reported that the dog had gotten in her room and knocked over everything, but she admitted she had left the outside door open. I went down to check, and saw the dog coming out of Ali’s room! I went in and closed the outside door, and saw that Ali was completely turned around in his bed with his head hanging off. There were paw prints all over. Liliane came later to discover the dog had eaten 2/3 of a giant chocolate bar. Bernadette found Nadia in a similar position as Ali. We closed all the doors, but the rooms stank of dog, and all the sheets needed to be changed.

After naptime, we took a walk.

Going for a walk

Sylvia had gone home, so I had Pädi. The cook and her assistant stayed behind, and Mopsi’s mother went home. We walked up the hill to the hotel-pensione to have z’Vieri/afternoon snack in the restaurant. We had to carry the wheelchairs up the few stairs. We had hot chocolate or Ovomaltine. The z’Vieri was paid for by Richard’s parents. We have also gotten yogurt from the milkman and cheese from the fromagerie/cheese shop.

Dinner was pizza with tomatoes and bacon and other leftover things, then rice and chicken, and a Quarkkuchen/farmers’ cheese cake. There was also bread and cheese for those who were still hungry. We had singing circle and Uschi came to visit.

I helped bathe and dress Pädi for the night. After the kids went to bed, we had coffee and ice cream, and the cookies Uschi brought.

Saturday, May 28, 1983

I helped Bernadette get Richard ready for the day and to pack. Went to breakfast as scheduled at 8:30, but it wasn’t ready. Went to visit Pädi and Philippe, then got breakfast at 9:00. Helped do the final clean up of the dishes and the kitchen. Herr S arrived at 10:30 and the bus was loaded.

Last day of Lager/camp

We packed the cars and Bernadette and I left about 11:00, driving to the hospital via Tavannes. The lower we went, the less snow. Beyond the La Chaux-d’Abel community there is a stone bridge. You could see the typical Jura farmhouse, made of stone with the roof coming down to the almost the ground and with an arched doorway and usually whitewashed. Arrived in Biel about 11:45.

Just a pic of Pädi in the Standtisch/standing table