Creative Convalescence

By Marianne Booberg, Photo by friend of Marianne Booberg

This morning I read an article in the latest issue of Prevention magazine which made me laugh. It listed fourteen ways to handle pain. The closest it came to listing my method was exercise, particularly Tai Chi. I don’t think the author would buy my method of “charitable beading” as a form of exercise, but it works for me.

In early February I had foot surgery, so extensive that my physician likened it to having both knees and a hip replacement done at the same time. I was in a non-weight bearing cast for three months. Crutches were impossible and combined with other issues, I was housebound for months. The discomfort was such that by late evening every day the pain was difficult to take. One night I reached for my bead box and began making jewelry as a distraction. I became so absorbed that I forgot about the pain. I had been trying to figure out how to solve another problem and a cure was born.

Last summer my husband Carl and I were part of a mission to the The Remote Area Medical Clinic in Wise, Virginia, where 1,500 volunteers treat 2,500 patients over a three-day period. Our church runs a clothing tent. Last year a Girl Scout collected about three dozen pairs of socks which were quickly dispensed. A woman came to me in great distress and asked where the socks and underwear were. She had counted on us, as she had no money, and by law these items cannot be sold used. I knew then I had to help her, but wondered how to do so. The idea of making and selling jewelry, while immobile and fighting pain, came to me as a way to help people like the woman I had met. Carl suggested the name “Rocks for Socks” and it stuck. 

I was particularly encouraged when Osher friends visited and were excited by my creations. I scheduled two sales as a result of their positive response. My goal was to raise $1,500. With the support of an Osher friend who brought her friends to the sale and with the help of our church members, I raised over $3,000 in total.

In July we loaded a truck with 15,000 pounds of clothing for our Wise friends. We are excited because that’s three times as much as last year. My pain-fighting plan ended up providing $7,500 worth of “underwear and rocks” and expanded to collect $1,000 worth of school supplies as well. As the accompanying photo shows, Senator Tim Kaine toured the site and participated in registering patients. I hope to continue this project, hopefully without wearing a cast!

I have other aches and pains which will require additional happy time with my beads. My beads, by the way, now require a room, not a box!