As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got back from a week in Germany on Sunday, November 2nd, 2009. It was a crazy trip as my friend and I discovered that their father had passed away while we were out hiking.
Yesterday I talked about how the universe had once moved me where I needed to be. The trip to Germany turned out to be just another incident of this, but with such longer strands of fate and timing that my friends have been amazed.
I came out of my career change (about 10 years ago now) looking for a "helping-people" type position, and expanded my volunteering. I was with the ASK Friendship Centre (until a transit strike made going there too costly) and the Vancouver General Hospital STAT Centre. I joined the Burnaby Hospice Society, and later the Vancouver Crisis Centre (and I'm still there, eight years later...).
All this volunteering gave me experience with seniors, some knowledge about bereavement, and crisis counselling. I also looked into Occupational First Aid Level 1 for my concierge position (although year after year, it seems they teach less and less).
They say the universe only gives you what you can handle, even if it might not seem so at the time.
When my friend's father passed away on my third day in Germany, it really sank into me just how everything had come together. I was at the right place at the right time to support my friend, and with the right training.
If I hadn't had all those experiences, I think I would have freaked out or just have felt lost. But I managed to stay calm and present for my friend. I just hope I was supportive in the right way, with the right mix of mostly empathy and understanding, as well as basic advice and information about bereavement.
It was a strange vacation. I stayed in small villages and didn't see all the major sights. We spent a lot of time walking in the beautiful woods and their fall colours. Above all we talked a lot.
I wouldn't change it for anything.
Yesterday I talked about how the universe had once moved me where I needed to be. The trip to Germany turned out to be just another incident of this, but with such longer strands of fate and timing that my friends have been amazed.
I came out of my career change (about 10 years ago now) looking for a "helping-people" type position, and expanded my volunteering. I was with the ASK Friendship Centre (until a transit strike made going there too costly) and the Vancouver General Hospital STAT Centre. I joined the Burnaby Hospice Society, and later the Vancouver Crisis Centre (and I'm still there, eight years later...).
All this volunteering gave me experience with seniors, some knowledge about bereavement, and crisis counselling. I also looked into Occupational First Aid Level 1 for my concierge position (although year after year, it seems they teach less and less).
They say the universe only gives you what you can handle, even if it might not seem so at the time.
When my friend's father passed away on my third day in Germany, it really sank into me just how everything had come together. I was at the right place at the right time to support my friend, and with the right training.
If I hadn't had all those experiences, I think I would have freaked out or just have felt lost. But I managed to stay calm and present for my friend. I just hope I was supportive in the right way, with the right mix of mostly empathy and understanding, as well as basic advice and information about bereavement.
It was a strange vacation. I stayed in small villages and didn't see all the major sights. We spent a lot of time walking in the beautiful woods and their fall colours. Above all we talked a lot.
I wouldn't change it for anything.
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