“Because I can.”

2 Comments September 5, 2018 drworobec

I checked off a bucket list item on Labour Day Monday morning. I swam with the Triathlon Club of Burlington (TCoB), in their annual Pier to Pier swim. This swim is 2.8km, across Lake Ontario, from the Burlington lift bridge pier to Burlington’s downtown pier.

Usually on Labour Day Monday, you can find me in my happy place, along the Lake Ontario shoreline, on a long solo run to clear my mind and get myself mentally prepped for the upcoming school year. With a teacher husband and two school-aged children, Labour Day is like my New Year; a fresh start, new goals, big dreams. And every year, I’ve noticed the TCoB crew climbing out of the water with big smiles and high fives, and sunshine on a glassy lake only adds to the appeal. Always up for a challenge, I wanted in on the fun, so a little over a week ago, I signed myself up.

2.8km looks really far from this finish-line vantage point; that red circle is the lighthouse where we jumped in.

My husband thought I was crazy; 2.8km and I haven’t swum a stroke in almost a decade. In fact, I’ve never even put on a wetsuit before, and I didn’t have time to test my borrowed suit out before yesterday’s event, so it was a jump-in-and-hope-for-the-best situation. But, I used to be a lifeguard, and a decade ago I did a handful of triathlons, including a 1.9km swim in my 2007 half-Ironman. So while I haven’t swum in many years, I hoped my previous experience, swim technique, and fitness could carry me through.

Monday morning at 7:15am, two of my girlfriends met me at home, and the three of us trekked down to the pier. They were rookies too, although one is a regular lap-swimmer and one had just come off a great triathlon season. They gave me tips on getting into my wetsuit (a workout in itself!), BodyGlide advice, and how to loop my zipper string. I was woefully underprepared, and felt like I should personally introduce myself to the kayak support boats. Deep down though, I knew that sheer determination (stubbornness?) would get me across the water.

It did.

I finished in 58:36, just under the one-hour mark that my obsessive Google calculations of “open water swim times” told me I could do. And while I don’t plan on adding swim training to my schedule, I truly enjoyed the experience. I enjoyed the nerves, the challenge, the friends and family, the sunshine, the sense of accomplishment, and the gratitude that I am physically able to do things like this.

“Why would you want to do that?” someone asked me. “Because I can.” And oh how I love a challenge.

In fact, this just may become a new tradition.

Bob said “anytime.”

6 Comments July 24, 2018 drworobec

My dad has a friend who’s been in his life for many decades. Let’s call him Bob, to maintain some anonymity; Bob is a bachelor, never been married, no kids. I’ve known him for more than 25 years. And now Bob has Alzheimer’s disease.

I struggled about whether or not I should write this post, about whether or not I’d be violating Bob’s privacy, about whether or not he would approve or disapprove, should he be able to make that decision. And as my thoughts rolled around and around, I thought I’d ask his sister, who is handling his affairs these days. She said yes. And so I wrote. And as the words came, so did the the memories.

Bob was diagnosed a couple of years ago, and just this past Spring, his sisters helped him to relocate to a Retirement Home in Toronto. His deterioration was progressing, so within months, his house in Calgary was cleaned out and sold, and Bob was back East, closer to his sisters and extended family, and also to me.

For much of his life, Bob lived in Calgary, just over an hour from the small town of Sundre, Alberta, where I grew up. He worked downtown, in the oil business, and had a mind for math and numbers and a personality for order and specificity. He was a perfectionist through and through, and gave of his talents generously to many people in his life, myself included. When I was a new University student applying for a waitressing job, Bob helped me get my resume in order; he made my experiences of babysitting and lifeguarding sound like formidable accomplishments and he went over my revisions again and again with a fine-toothed comb. Every sentence perfect, every statement clear and concise, every opportunity explored. He must’ve spent hours behind the scenes, thinking about how to best present my 18-year-old self to restaurant managers, while I rolled my eyes on the other end of the phone line as he got me to rewrite even the smallest details. I got the job, I said thank you, Bob said “anytime.”

I moved to Toronto to attend the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in 2002, Bob’s hometown. Way before the Facetime era, Bob arranged for his nephew to scout my potential apartment for me. Moving solo across the country to The Big Smoke was a daunting endeavour for my 22-year-old self, but his nephew gave me a full report via Bob. I remember that he commented on the water pressure being strong; attention to detail must be genetic. I got the apartment, I said thank you, Bob said “anytime.”

School took over my life and I immersed myself in my studies and my friends, my running and my new city. I was working occasional hours as a personal trainer when tax time rolled around. I called Bob and asked for help with my personal taxes. He filed them via paper and pencil, long before QuickTax, with me on the other end of a long-distance phone call, answering endless questions, sorting through paperwork, being as thorough as Bob demanded. I got the taxes done, I said thank you, Bob said “anytime.”

I was a newlywed in 2006, back in Calgary with my husband for a Summertime visit, and needed a place to spend a night in between dinner parties and brunch plans. He toured us around his neighbourhood, took us for a walk, made us feel welcome. We had great conversation, marvelled at his tidiness, commented on his home’s precision. He gave us a place to stay, I said thank you, Bob said “anytime.”

My family went to visit him last Sunday. We told the kids that his brain was sick. That he’s a smart man with a big heart and a big, awful disease. He was having a good day and he was the Bob I remembered in many respects; the Bob who likes to talk, except this Bob had trouble finding words. The Bob who loves children, except this Bob couldn’t interact with them the way he used to. The Bob who loves showing people around, except this Bob got disoriented in the middle of his tour.

But this Bob still remembered me. This Bob was still happy to see me, my husband, my kids. This Bob still smiled, still laughed, still has a positive outlook, a generous spirit, a fierce loyalty, a kind soul.

I gave him a long hug, he said thank you, I said “anytime.”

Blue.

Leave a comment July 10, 2018 drworobec

I’ve had a dog for a large part of my life. My first dog, Sugar, was a small black poodle that passed away when I was only seven years old. I have limited memories of her, but my parents tell tales of how they’d tell her to “stay” on the front porch of our small-town home, and come back at the end of the workday to find her still sitting proud and loyal. I do vividly remember her burial, in a remote, wooded area just off the Alberta-prarie golf course that she so loved. I remember my dad’s tears, something I hadn’t seen before, and a heavy feeling of loss. Our next family dog, an American spaniel named Jacob, lived a short four years before developing a fatal spinal blood clot. The trauma of that loss is still with me today, as he was my running buddy throughout high school and I held him close as he was euthanized at the emergency vet clinic.

As adults, my husband and I have had two dogs- our beloved Chocolate Lab, Tyson, who passed away in 2012, and our Chocolate Labradoodle, Oz, whom we had to re-home in May 2014 following some health concerns with my daughter. So, for the last four years, we’ve been dog-less. We’ve done lots of dog-sitting for friends and family and there’s been lots of chatter about “when we get a dog,” knowing that it was a foregone conclusion that our home would have a dog again at some point. But I hadn’t felt ready until very recently, much to the chagrin of my husband and children. My heart wasn’t prepared yet, and I didn’t feel like our family had the time or energy available to give. Sometime late last year though, my mentality shifted, and I felt some “space” in our lives open back up.

Our focus turned to rescue dogs. We searched for many months and put in applications with dozens of rescue organizations and shelters throughout Southern Ontario. We were interviewed, screened, and we even met some dogs that ultimately weren’t the right fit for our family. We began to get frustrated with the constant searching, and decided to try another approach; in early June we placed a Wanted Ad on Kijiji, hoping to find a family that needed to re-home a beloved pet for circumstances beyond their control. A few days later, we got an email from a local rescue organization who had seen our ad and had three Golden Retriever/poodle puppies surrendered by an overwhelmed breeder. The puppies were three and half months old; “would you like to come and meet them?” she asked.

Um, YES.

Three days later we were driving home from Cayuga with our newest family member, Blue.

Her name is such simply because we love many things blue; the BlueJays, the Leafs (well, at least some of us do), the lake. And to think of all of the joy that she’s brought into our home in the last month…… well, I guess I’d forgotten the power of a dog.

Meet Blue Jay Worobec: