What a week… or two.
The past 11 days has been all over the place to the point that I struggle to know where to begin. Last tuesday, my child (who I struggle to say ‘no’ to) asked for some help with a project.
That project involved dismantling, cutting, and re-assembling, and adding some structure and a veneer to a wooden box that would house the Edmonton Fire Cadet Class 12 legacy gift, a project my daughter was almost solely responsible for. What was assumed to be an evening project ended up being very involved.
While I was doing that, the kid was preparing a short length of fire hose to be painted – but not just painted – it was to have the Fire Cadet Class 12 crest, which she designed, across 3 stacked sections of hose before being discretely mounted inside the aforementioned frame.
I rebuilt the box Tuesday evening, while the kid made a plan for the ultimate display.
Wednesday morning, I dealt with the failing of our provincial mental health support system, as an assessment I was looking rather forward to getting done… that had already been delayed… was rebooked without my knowledge. There are a number of ways this miscommunication can appear to be my fault, but upon sharing the details with a couple people this past week, none of them were surprised. I lodged a complaint with AHS and received 4 separate, VERY apologetic phone calls from AHS and put on the top of a cancellation list… which is a strange move for a large underfunded organization who apparently did no wrong.
In the evening, we went shopping for supplies in a torrential storm (since we couldn’t work outdoors anyway). Thursday evening, while I was otherwise occupied (rehearsing for a show I had on Friday, HA!) she sanded and stained the box and frame during a brief few hours of tolerable weather, and friday morning I added the newly stained veneer to the newly stained box, and mounted the 3 lengths of hose inside roughly 45 minutes before my soundcheck on Friday. The gift was signed by all the cadets at their graduation ceremony at City Hall, where it was presented.
It was all very high-pressure for the kid, and she handled it all very well, and got the job done. The ceremony was incredible, and my daughter was singled out for a monetary prize from the Cadet Corp’s major sponsor.
The next day was father’s day, which meant very little for me as there was a bit of a family reunion happening. I attended and was overwhelmed. I forgot to call my own dad… and still haven’t done so 6 days later… sorry dad.
Monday, the kid collected her diploma from high school… which should be exciting – and was, don’t get me wrong – but really most of us were most excited about the cadet grad two days prior, and ultimately relieved at the success of that.
By Tuesday, I was ready to hide in the waves of sound that can only be made by my rock & roll band, and the boys didn’t disappoint. That was a great jam, and we’re very excited about our upcoming shows.
On Wednesday, I received copies of our latest record and solidified some release party plans for a few months from now (but we will be bringing these records with us for the summer shows, of course!)
I’m suitably ready to collapse.
To give you an idea of how it all feels, I go to work to relax now.
But I am reminded of the depressive feeling that comes with finishing a long race, or coming home from a tour with nothing ‘spectacular’ on the horizon to look forward to. It’s a funny feeling that I am very aware of, and doing my best t handle
The kid? Still going… she’s been to a couple of friends’ graduations and narrowly avoided repelling off a 7 story building as a final cadet gathering. She hurt her wrist a while back and really didn’t trust it, but I’m proud of her for going up in the first place.
She turns 18 in 6 weeks.
A couple weeks later, I become an uncle again.
Shit’s bonkers, I tell you. BONKERS!
All in all, I am plagued with the infamous Ferris Bueller quote at every turn.
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Since all of that; and I’ll save the details because it’s really not my place to comment or update people about this sort of stuff, but this house has 2 parental family members in the hospital for some pretty serious stuff, and some of the commentary from the staff and volunteers there is pretty ominous.
We’re hoping for the best and preparing for some life-changing stuff here, just in case.
The Conscious Pilgrim 