St. Lawrence Parish

• “KATHY AT THE CLINIC: HER MIDDLE YEARS MINISTRY”

  By Mary C. Weisenburger  

  “Thelonius, please open your mouth,” Kathy Hendricks says to the tall, shy, gangling black teen standing next to her in a small, sunlit, examining room in the St. Lawrence Clinic. Kathy deftly inserts a thermometer into his mouth. And the three of us wait to see if Thelonius has a fever.

  Kathy is a Certificate student, and I am her Supervisor as she interns as a volunteer with Pat Dyer, the Nurse Practitioner who runs our St. Lawrence Pediatric Clinic. I’m observing her on a day the Clinic is bursting with families. Kathy is busy taking temperatures, weighing little and big kids, checking their hearing, checking their vision. Kathy’s a manager at a small store. She loves learning this technical work. Her mother is a retired nurse – now they have something new in common. Most of all, she loves the kids.

  The thermometer still hasn’t registered. We all laugh – is he alive?

  “Thelonius must be a Vampire,” I opine. He looks at me, confused and quizzical.

  “All the romantic heroes in the movies are Vampires,” I add. Kathy chuckles and Thelonius grins, finally “getting” it. The thermometer beeps and we’re all glad to find out he’s “normal.”

  The next family, sent in by office manager Luke Dyer, is from Bangladesh, - a father, an interpreter, and two adorable little girls in sparkly scarves and colorful dresses. The two men crowd into the small room to observe Kathy’s exam; they are tender and vigilant. The interpreter gently takes the oldest girl’s scarf off and Kathy places an instrument in her ear to check her hearing. She has difficulty understanding that when the instrument beeps, she should raise her hand. Kathy demonstrates. The interpreter repeats her instructions in Bengali. We all watch for the tiny hand to lift and sigh with relief when it sails up.

  Kathy says that she never truly realized until volunteering here that so many people are dependent on buses to take them to work, to school, to clinics. Also she’s found out that families on any insurance often have to wait months for a first visit for their children with Pediatricians, and at the beginning of the school year, that presents big problems for kids who need vaccines to be allowed into school. Our Clinic is a real safety net for these families. Many parents choose our Clinic for continuing primary care.

  The little boy in next, from Yemen, grins and wiggles on the scale. Pat, passing him in the hall, told him he was growing like a weed but he looks like a peanut to me. Eventually Kathy takes him in the hall and because he’s too small to read, she teaches him to let her know if he can see the moon or the star. After the exam, she finds him an Arabic-English book for kindergartners and gives it to him as a present.

  Kathy – and Loretta Queeno, a long-time volunteer - love the opportunity to meet people from every nation, race and religion at our welcoming Clinic. They love having a chance to discover new God-given gifts as they move into the middle years of their lives. Anyone is welcome to volunteer here and discover their delightful, unexpected God-given gifts and the wonderful people who need them! Kathy’s smiling jubilant face stays with me as I leave for my office, thanking God for His gifted and giving people.

Peace & Love in Christ,

Mary Weisenburger

St. Lawrence Parish Co-Administrator