:D
After a rather stressful pregnancy and an emergency C-section at 31 weeks and 5 days, my sister gave birth to her first child, Noah John. :D He is tiny - only 3lbs 2oz, but being cared for by awesome NICU folks in Quebec City. Can't wait to meet him!
Auntie to 11,
Stephanie
10.16.2010
10.13.2010
Working again... and thoughts about Ty
Well, I've gone back to work - almost full-time - working with my two lovely ladies in their group home. Benefits start on the 21st, and so does my fairly predictable 4 week shift rotation. I'm happy to be working and even though it's not a teaching job (which are few and far between in BC) I'm sure I'll have a good time. It's all about attitude, right? Right. I love the ladies and my co-workers, so that makes it enjoyable... plus, it's nice to have a somewhat stress-free job for a bit. It's the type of job that I can leave at work - I don't come home with piles of homework or marking or planning to do... but that will come, one day! :D
Still no sign of Tyler - we've now hit the two month mark since he first went camping in August... and we will hit the 'missing' two month date in a matter of days. Hard to believe he's gone. I hope we find him before the snow starts falling, but now that it's autumn, searching for him gets trickier than it was before. I miss him. I sometimes have dreams about him - seeing him happy and smiling, but also seeing him waving. I could read a lot into these dreams, but I know he's on my mind so it only makes sense that he's in my dreams.
When I think of words to describe Thai (as he sometimes signed his notes to me - that along with a cartoon sketch of a man's tie, or Ty, or Tai, or his four initials...) I think of passion, energy, creativity, compassion, genuine, excited. His mind worked fast and even though his bursts of creativity seemed scattered to me, they were surrounded by an intense focus.
Working with him I found myself both frustrated and inspired - he constantly challenged me to think bigger, work harder, be more efficient, and although I was often mentally and physically exhausted at the end of it all, there was rarely a day that he didn't have an encouraging word to say. His curiosity was contagious, too - questioning me, ideas, and the like. We'd talk about family, having kids one day, being an auntie/uncle, our current relationships - you name it. When you work with someone ten hours a day, with no radio, you find stuff to talk about. Plus, since the truck had no radio, he put up with me and my singing of childhood songs. Then again, I put up with his, too. And his sporatic driving when a cute girl walked by. And once we got a tape deck, he shared his love of House music with me and those close enough to the truck when the windows were down. And Mount Royal Bagels - a favourite stop of ours. We seemed to live off of bagels and water. When I had a rough day, he was quick with a hug or a neck rub. A lot of memories, and I'm grateful for each one.
I remember one day we had a job at a house up on a rocky hill in Victoria, clearing away someone's soil... when suddenly we heard a beautiful voice singing. Our client was standing in a sunlit window above us, singing an opera piece, wearing a flowing yellow dress... completely out of some sort of fairytale. We paused, sweating in the summer heat, listened, and she looked down and waved. Moments later she came outside with a tray, on which a pitcher of freshly squeezed lemonade was sitting. We just grinned at each other, plopped outselves down on the pile of dirt we should've been moving, and drank, smiles on our faces.
These past couple of months have gotten me thinking a lot about friendships, and I truly believe that God sent Tyler to me at that particular time in my life - to make me question what I believed, to learn to defend it, to learn how to be a better friend, and to appreciate what I have (friends, family, God, love). I hadn't seen Tyler that often in the past few years, due to my move to the Fraser Valley, but he was often on my mind... and he probably always will be.
I miss you, Ty. And I hope these next days/weeks bring closure, in whatever form that takes, for your family and friends. But for me, this isn't goodbye.
Still no sign of Tyler - we've now hit the two month mark since he first went camping in August... and we will hit the 'missing' two month date in a matter of days. Hard to believe he's gone. I hope we find him before the snow starts falling, but now that it's autumn, searching for him gets trickier than it was before. I miss him. I sometimes have dreams about him - seeing him happy and smiling, but also seeing him waving. I could read a lot into these dreams, but I know he's on my mind so it only makes sense that he's in my dreams.
When I think of words to describe Thai (as he sometimes signed his notes to me - that along with a cartoon sketch of a man's tie, or Ty, or Tai, or his four initials...) I think of passion, energy, creativity, compassion, genuine, excited. His mind worked fast and even though his bursts of creativity seemed scattered to me, they were surrounded by an intense focus.
Working with him I found myself both frustrated and inspired - he constantly challenged me to think bigger, work harder, be more efficient, and although I was often mentally and physically exhausted at the end of it all, there was rarely a day that he didn't have an encouraging word to say. His curiosity was contagious, too - questioning me, ideas, and the like. We'd talk about family, having kids one day, being an auntie/uncle, our current relationships - you name it. When you work with someone ten hours a day, with no radio, you find stuff to talk about. Plus, since the truck had no radio, he put up with me and my singing of childhood songs. Then again, I put up with his, too. And his sporatic driving when a cute girl walked by. And once we got a tape deck, he shared his love of House music with me and those close enough to the truck when the windows were down. And Mount Royal Bagels - a favourite stop of ours. We seemed to live off of bagels and water. When I had a rough day, he was quick with a hug or a neck rub. A lot of memories, and I'm grateful for each one.
I remember one day we had a job at a house up on a rocky hill in Victoria, clearing away someone's soil... when suddenly we heard a beautiful voice singing. Our client was standing in a sunlit window above us, singing an opera piece, wearing a flowing yellow dress... completely out of some sort of fairytale. We paused, sweating in the summer heat, listened, and she looked down and waved. Moments later she came outside with a tray, on which a pitcher of freshly squeezed lemonade was sitting. We just grinned at each other, plopped outselves down on the pile of dirt we should've been moving, and drank, smiles on our faces.
These past couple of months have gotten me thinking a lot about friendships, and I truly believe that God sent Tyler to me at that particular time in my life - to make me question what I believed, to learn to defend it, to learn how to be a better friend, and to appreciate what I have (friends, family, God, love). I hadn't seen Tyler that often in the past few years, due to my move to the Fraser Valley, but he was often on my mind... and he probably always will be.
I miss you, Ty. And I hope these next days/weeks bring closure, in whatever form that takes, for your family and friends. But for me, this isn't goodbye.
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