Dad's Wish
The Truver Road Coloring Club
My father George Brooks was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer in 2003. It wasn’t until June 2004 that he required 24 hour care. He wanted to maintain his quality of life as long as he could and did not want to be a burden on any one of his 14 children.
We got the feeling from him that he wanted to think that we were doing something besides taking care of him. You could see as the days past that he was having more difficulty getting around. He had taken several falls and thank God he never broke anything. He was limited on what he was able to do.
I got the feeling that he didn’t like the idea of us just sitting around waiting to tend to his needs. I also believe that he didn’t like the fact the attention was on him and everyone asking how he was. He seemed like he was looking for a way to change the subject.
One day I took with me some colored pencils and some coloring books, which were geometric design coloring books. This gave me an opportunity to do a mindless activity that I love, but don’t find time to do. When my dad woke up to get something to eat, he saw what I was doing. We talked about how we found it very relaxing and enjoyable, but how little time we spend doing it.
I was putting my books and pencils in my case to take home. To my surprise my dad asked if I would leave them. Several days later I was told that my dad was spending most of his waking hours coloring.
What happened was that everyone that came in to talk with my dad sat at the table, they just picked up pencils and started to color. He purchased other books, an Egyptian book that he preferred to color. The geometric books were a favorite because there was no right way or wrong way to color them.
It became a great activity for everyone. I don’t think we would have ever realized what great therapy was done by doing a child’s activity. Some named their projects by the mood of the day or their state of mind. It surprised us how such a simple activity became such a focus. We were surprised by the number of participants and how creative each was. We would have never guessed that there would have been so many willing participants. The grandkids, neighbors, son, daughters, friends and brother took part.
After Dad’s funeral, it came to my attention that he had made a comment to my sister Marta about forming a coloring club. No one took him seriously. He even told her to call it the “Truver Road Coloring Club.”
We found that it helped us through this tough time. It gave us quality time with dad. He enjoyed it and it took the focus off of him. He was proud of what everyone was doing. I don’t think there was ever a picture that he didn’t find pleasing.
I don’t believe that Dad only wanted those in our situation to be in the coloring club. He would have loved to see anyone and everyone coloring. So form your own club with your support group, use it in group therapy, share it with your neighbors, friends, or family and take part in this child’s activity, add color to your life and those around you.
We want you to become a part of our coloring club. We would like for you to share your experiences with us. We would like to know if this activity was as rewarding to you as it was for us. We believe that this activity can bring color and life into any situation. WELCOME to our club. www.truverroadcoloringclub.com
