Never Alone.It's been an extremely hectic past week and a half. My final undergraduate exam - ever! - is on Wednesday and I haven't begun studying for it yet. It's kind of bad when the professor has admitted to the class, "I took a look at the exam last night and if I were writing it, even I wouldn't know how to answer the questions. Good luck!" I figured I'm going to cram myself full of feminist discourse and regurgitate that back onto the page and I'll ace it. Anyways, there's better things to be done than study for an exam and certainly there has been a lot to keep me on my toes. But despite being busy and all around the GTA, it's been an amazing time. April 20th 2008: Bridal shower!  It seems like just yesterday Raluca got engaged and now the bridal shower's done and in the next few months she'll be a married woman! There was certainly a lot to do and stress levels were high but in the end we all sat back - exhausted - but happy and with a sense of bewilderment: "We actually did it!" It felt like a whirlwind but at the same time, it was amazing to see one of my close friends whom I grew up with getting celebrated as a bride-to-be. I remember when we were both convinced we would marry Nick Carter. Oh gawd. April 22nd 2008: ChiReeNeese 
A lot of my friends are male and this past week it felt so damn good to reconnect with my girls again. A few days after the girls-only bridal shower, there was a girls-only evening at Rina's. It was full of things only we'd understand and so I won't go into details because you'll all just think we're nuts. And if you have seen the photos and videos of that night on Facebook, you would agree and you already think we're insane. ("Balloons" dance? Awww hell yeah!) Afterwards, I had to return to work and was a bit bummed out because I was so tired and was thinking about how I'm going to spend May essentially alone. Most of my friends are all going to be taking off for their graduation trips this summer in Asia and Europe. Even more of them are international students who are returning home after their visas run out in Canada. I felt like a diaspora was occurring in my life! However, one man really changed my attitude and refreshed my outlook on everything. It was a fairly busy weekend and a coworker called me over to assist a customer with purchasing a lap top. He was approximately in his late fifties and was leaning against the table, he spoke very slowly and in a barely audible voice. He handed me an envelope and asked me what he had enough for. I counted it out and told him. He said to go ahead with it, except that he couldn't walk to the cash register. So I had to double count the money in front of him and go to the register to do the purchase while he waited in the front. Afterwards, he asked if someone could bring it to his car since he could not lift the laptop box. I volunteered and taking my hand, I had to pull him up from leaning against the table. He took my hand and I supported him the entire time. He could manage a few shuffling steps at best and he parked on the other side of the mall so it took us a fair amount of time to get there. On the way, we chatted a bit. He was buying this laptop for his wife's birthday because her computer wasn't working too well, she didn't know that he was going out today and was calling him a lot to make sure he was alright. I could tell he loved her deeply as he described the surprise birthday party he had planned for her and how she has no idea what her present will be. Smiling, he said he couldn't wait to see the surprised look on her face. He told me he has a daughter that is very much like me. She got married to a wonderful man and 6 months ago she had a baby and he's so proud to be a grandfather. Here was a man who, despite his physical disabilities, looked at the good in life and was happy and proud of his loved ones. He kept apologizing and explaining that his medication will take affect soon and he will be able to walk easier soon. He also kept thanking me for walking with him and how much he appreciated it (also about how he bought a huge TV and no one offered to help him). When we got to his car, he wasn't parked in the handicapped space: someone without a proper license had taken that spot. He took out a fifty dollar bill and kept insisting that I take it, telling me no one would know, only me and him. I didn't accept it; I couldn't accept it. Not just because I could lose my job, but mostly because it would be the wrong thing to do. Making sure he got into his car alright and giving him a final wave before heading back inside, I felt uplifted. It's hard to explain really. I came back feeling like I could never be alone and regardless of what we're all going through, we'll always be there for each other. We'll always have friends and family right? | 
