By SUE ELLEN ROSS-Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – It’s been said that sometimes our friends know us better than we know ourselves. This follows along the old adage of those friends knowing what may be good for us, even if we don’t.

Such was the case for Iris Waguespack.

The year was 1988, and the LaPlace woman accompanied a friend as she dropped off a volunteer application at River Parishes Hospital. As they were driving in the car, the friend suggested to Wauguespack that she, too, could apply.

“I just wasn’t ready at the time,” said the LaPlace resident. She was newly-widowed and didn’t feel that the hospital was an appropriate place for her to be.

The friend was very insistent, and Waguespack finally gave in. “She made me fill out an application on that same day,” she laughed. “When they called me for orientation, I thought I would give it a try.”

Her first assignment was ‘on the floor’. She assisted patients, delivering flowers, talking with them, and other related duties.

Then, on her third day, she was assigned to the Emergency Room.

That area didn’t work well for her, so she returned to the floor.

Seven years ago, she was transferred to the Surgery Waiting Room, where she is now permanently stationed.

Once the devoted woman saw the benefits of her first volunteer hours back in 1988, she decided that it could fit in with her lifestyle.

“It didn’t take too long (to become comfortable), probably just a couple of weeks,” she said.

Family encouraged her in her volunteer work. Daughters Colleen and Iris, both of LaPlace; and sons Stephen and Francis, both of Ponchatoula; were supportive. Waguespack also has eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

She enjoys her work as an assistant in the waiting room. “I keep visitors informed regarding the patients,” she said. “And they like the fact that I am here to talk to them, it takes their mind off of what’s going on (in the surgery room).”

She added that it makes her feel good when a visitor says, “You made my day.” And she hears it a lot.

Although Waguespack was hesitant to commit her time to the hospital at first, she now considers this work a big part of her life. She has even gone one step further and makes craft items for the patients for holidays.

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She is currently assembling materials that will culminate in a cheerful heart pocket filled with Valentine candy for the patients.

When people ask Waguespack how much she gets paid for her hospital work, she smiles and says she doesn’t receive any monetary compensation.

“I tell them I get paid here,” she said, pointing to her heart.

She would recommend volunteer work to anyone wanting to give it a try and also to those who aren’t sure.

She relates her own beginning at the hospital, and also how she respects the whole volunteer process and is proud to be involved.

“You get out of your own grief when you are helping others,” she said. “Everyone should try volunteer work, they might like it.”

For information on volunteering at River Parishes Hospital, call Claudette Henry at 651-1482.