Support Network
Some days, when you're at the end of your rope, you can pick up the phone, or type a status on Facebook, and they're there. The people who understand, who are walking (or have walked) the mile in your shoes. The ones who 'get it'.
I don't talk much about the situation with GameTeen anymore, mainly because I'd commented somewhere at a very low point with him a few years ago and was attacked for it. Now, however, I have an excellent source of support in his principal. We've become friends in the time that he's attended his school, and we are undergoing similar educational journeys. On those days when I'm stressed, I can ping her on Facebook, call her on the phone or email and she's got the educational background to make me see the big picture.
Every semester, I have been fortunate to walk away from it with a new friend. This semester, I'm thinking there will be more than that, but the best thing ever is having someone in the same three classes. I saved two classes work until the weekend (BIG mistake!!), and she did the exact same thing. We were emailing back and forth, calming each other down, or she provided some great resources. Seriously, it was just what I needed, because as the weekend progressed, I felt more and more crappy. (I even called out sick to work today-which I don't do very often.)
Then there are the friends from semesters past. I got to pay it forward, with a friend making a major life change that I've experienced a time or two-the purchase of a home. She's doing it solo, when she thought she'd have a former love making this leap with her. It's stressful, even when two incomes are making the leap. It feels good to be the voice of experience, to calm the frazzled nerves and know that in the end, she'll be just fine.
Finally, there are the long time friends. We go back and forth with every phone call, venting about minor annoyances, talking about big stresses and just like a tennis match, it's a well orchestrated volley that helps us keep an even keel. Sometimes, I'm the one playing momma hen "rest your voice," "you're doing too much" and other times, it's the voice on the phone telling me similar things.
On days like today, when I feel like crud, I realize that while my health might not be great, the support is pretty darn good...
I don't talk much about the situation with GameTeen anymore, mainly because I'd commented somewhere at a very low point with him a few years ago and was attacked for it. Now, however, I have an excellent source of support in his principal. We've become friends in the time that he's attended his school, and we are undergoing similar educational journeys. On those days when I'm stressed, I can ping her on Facebook, call her on the phone or email and she's got the educational background to make me see the big picture.
Every semester, I have been fortunate to walk away from it with a new friend. This semester, I'm thinking there will be more than that, but the best thing ever is having someone in the same three classes. I saved two classes work until the weekend (BIG mistake!!), and she did the exact same thing. We were emailing back and forth, calming each other down, or she provided some great resources. Seriously, it was just what I needed, because as the weekend progressed, I felt more and more crappy. (I even called out sick to work today-which I don't do very often.)
Then there are the friends from semesters past. I got to pay it forward, with a friend making a major life change that I've experienced a time or two-the purchase of a home. She's doing it solo, when she thought she'd have a former love making this leap with her. It's stressful, even when two incomes are making the leap. It feels good to be the voice of experience, to calm the frazzled nerves and know that in the end, she'll be just fine.
Finally, there are the long time friends. We go back and forth with every phone call, venting about minor annoyances, talking about big stresses and just like a tennis match, it's a well orchestrated volley that helps us keep an even keel. Sometimes, I'm the one playing momma hen "rest your voice," "you're doing too much" and other times, it's the voice on the phone telling me similar things.
On days like today, when I feel like crud, I realize that while my health might not be great, the support is pretty darn good...
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