A key day of the year, Christmas brought together thirty-five people yesterday, plus their companions, Wednesday December 25, 2024, for a lunch organized by the local branch of the Little Brothers of the Poor. It took place at the restaurant of the Mercure hotel, in Joué-lès-Tours, to break the isolation and spend a warm, friendly time, also with meetings.
This meal caused some fear for one of the organizers, a volunteer from the territorial action team, Anne-Marie Mercier, worried about finding enough drivers. She finally got there at the end of the week before the event, with three minibuses and five to six cars for carpooling. “We appealed to goodwill, with the Relais Amiable de Joué-lès-Tours and the Secours catholique. They gave us very useful addresses”she admits. With her teammate Simone Carton, they found the restaurant in June and the host who had to be booked a year in advance.
Mix beneficiaries and visitors to encourage new encounters
The end of the meal was punctuated by gifts, with the calendar, flowers, pencils. But the most precious thing in everyone's eyes was the shared moment, the meetings. They were numerous, often unexpected.
The organization had planned not to seat the beneficiaries side by side with their usual visitors to encourage exchanges. Marine, a young mechanical engineer living in Tours for a year, discovered the Little Brothers of the Poor thanks to the Sports'ouverts day at Lac de la Bergeonnerie. “The name of the Little Brothers of the Poor association was known to me because I had read it on bottles of fruit juice. It was indicated that she was the beneficiary of a remitted sum. Now that I have found geographical stability, I wanted a commitment, mainly with elderly people because my grandmother lives far away. »
The passion for shared music
At the table, Marine spoke with Nicole, a 74-year-old resident of Tours Nord. She participated in the lunch for the first time with great pleasure because the loneliness weighs on her. And above all, she was waiting to dance. “I love it. When I was younger, in Tours, I went to the ball with some friends. »
At another table is Laurent, 62, one of the youngest participants. Marine goes to visit him once a week. They sometimes go for a walk, drink mulled wine or eat chocolate. He tells her about his passion for music, the great Italian, French and German operas.
This astonishing man taught himself to read music, guided by his sole passion. He lives surrounded by scores, CDs, with different versions of the same works to compare them. “I’m a bit of a dinosaur, without a computer or internet”he admits, amused. His love of the great repertoire did not prevent him from having fun dancing to mainstream hits. The next meeting is set for the galette des rois.
