#WeAreBurlington

Leave a comment August 12, 2014 drworobec

Burlington, I’m talking to you. Geneva Park Drive, I’m talking to you. Guelph Line, Cardiff Crescent, Fairview Street, I’m talking to you. Regal Road, I’m especially talking to you. I’m telling you there’s hope.

Remember last Summer, when Calgary was hit by a hundred-year flood that devastated the city? Remember when the rains poured in, the rivers raged, and the devastation grew? Remember how the community pulled together, neighbours rallied, government stepped up, and people helped? I do. I remember, because some of my best friends were hit the very hardest:

Their basement completely submerged? Yep.

Yard underwater, unsafe, and unusable? Yep.

Contents destroyed, financial disarray, memories lost? Yep.

Sludge and sewage and nastiness everywhere? Yep, yep, and yep.

They’ve been there. Calgary and many other Southern Alberta communities were right where you are now, only a year ago. And they made it. They rallied, they worked, they fought, they cried. And here they are, on the other side:

And you will be too.

We are here for you.

#WeAreBurlington.

***For those not aware of the Burlington, Ontario, flood that occurred on Monday, August 4th/2014,
you can read more information here, here, and here.
You can donate HERE.***

21.1 Kms of Friendship

6 Comments March 5, 2013 drworobec

This is a story of friendship:

Setting:
Lakeshore Road in Burlington, Ontario. A cold Sunday morning in March, 10:05am.

Characters:
A and M are two 30-something females who have been friends for a decade through Chiropractic College, weddings, babies, businesses, tears, and laughter. This is their first Half Marathon together in 9 years. With 1:23 and 1:20 Personal Bests under their belts in 2004, the two friends are aiming for a 1:45 today. However, their unspoken competitive natures are evident in their quiet demeanors and anxious pre-race preparations.

Dialogue:

Starting Line (Brant/Caroline Streets)
A: Here we go!
M: Woohoo!

KM 1
A: So we’ll head out on this stretch for a 5km out-and-back, and then we run East all the way to the turnaround at Burloak. (Nervously) So we’ll be able to see a long ways ahead of us once we’re on that straightaway.
M: Okay, thanks for the heads-up. (Checks watch)

KM 2-8
A and M talk about their day-to-day lives, family vacations, and what their kids eat for breakfast.

KM 9
A: (Pulls out energy gel) Okay, so this is Walker’s Line. Then it’s Appleby Line, then Burloak. That’s the turnaround.
M: Okay. (Checks watch)

KM 10
A: (Excitedly) I see a police car up ahead with its flashers on, that must be the turnaround already!
M: No, I think that’s just the leaders coming back onto the homestretch.
A: (Defeated) Oh. (A is starting to play mind games with herself, worrying that they’ve gone out too fast.)

KM 11-12
A and M excitedly cheer on the leaders coming back West along Lakeshore Road.

KM 13 (Turnaround at Burloak Drive)
M: (Checks watch) Okay, now I don’t want to get you too excited, but if we keep up this pace, we’re going to break 1:40!
A: (Huge smile) I’m going to apologize for my bad mood now. Let’s do it!

KM 14-17
(M tells various stories about other races and reminisces about her and A’s racing history. A is silent, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.)
A: M, please go on ahead. You look strong. I’ll meet you at the finish line. Go ahead. I don’t mind. Go kick some butt. I’m hurting.
M: You’re doing great! (Checks watch)

KM 18 (Church volunteers at water station.)
Volunteer: Oranges and bananas! Oranges and bananas!
(A finds that this phrase matches the cadence of her stride. She continues to repeat a silent mantra- oranges and bananas, oranges and bananas, oranges and bananas). M continues to stay beside her, half a stride ahead.
M: Let’s use this downhill (Accelerates).

KM 19
M: Two kilometres to go. C’mon. (Checks watch)
A: Ten minutes. Less than ten minutes. I can do that.
M: Yep, less than a WOD at Crossfit. Let’s go.

KM 20 (Fans line the streets, holding signs and ringing cowbells. A and M can hear the music from the approaching Finish Line.)
M: (Checks watch) Okay, now it’s time to think of your sweet little Drew and Casey meeting you at the finish line. Picture their faces. Let’s chase 1:40!
A: (Holding back tears, overwhelmed with emotion and exhaustion.) Okay.

KM 21 (Heading North on Brant Street, the Finish Line is in sight.)
M: There they are! (Points to A and M’s husbands and children cheering and waving at them) Look at that clock! (M’s watch reads 1:38)
A: Almost there! Go!

KM 21.1 (Inside the finishing chute; A and M step across the timing mat and embrace. Tears of joy run down A’s face.)
A: Thank you so much for sticking with me and pulling me through when I was clearly dying. I could not have done that without you.
M: We were in it together, every step, because I wouldn’t have even made it to the Start Line without you. I’m so proud of us!

~The End

Basking in the post-race euphoria!

I am a Transplant. And it’s Christmastime.

3 Comments December 18, 2012 drworobec

I am a transplant. A geographical transplant, that is. I was born and raised in Alberta, and moved my life across the country 10 years ago (10 years already? Really?!) for post-graduate studies to become a Doctor of Chiropractic- and I ended up staying.

I have always identified myself as an Albertan, and likely always will; but it’s only been in the last few years that I’ve really started to feel at home in Burlington. I mean really ‘at home‘. The this-is-where-my-life-is-and-I-feel-content kind of home. Having my children here did that. Buying a house here did that. Growing roots here did that. And while Ontario is home, there are still times when my homesickness gets triggered by a rough day, a family celebration in Alberta, or my birthday. Christmas gets me too. When I close my eyes…

…I can see the familiar white lights on my parent’s Christmas tree.

…I can taste the love in the caramel popcorn that my mom makes.

…I can smell the warmth of the fire crackling in their wood-burning fireplace.

…I can hear the nostalgic sounds of my cousins laughing.

…I can feel the comforting crunch of Alberta snow beneath my boots.

Now with two young children of my own, I’m trying to nurture their sense of home and cozy familiarity with our own family traditions. And in the process, I’m creating a a new sense of home and cozy familiarity for myself. My homesickness eases when I see the excitement in their eyes and the magic in their smiles. My nostalgia lessens when I see the lights on our tree and the fire in our fireplace. And the love of my husband and my in-laws goes a long way too. I hug them more during the holidays.

So this Christmas, if you have a transplant in your life, be sure to remember that the holidays may bring feelings of loneliness mixed in with feelings of happiness. Be sure to ask them how they’re doing. Be sure to ask them what their Christmases ‘back home’ were like. And be sure to listen to their answers. It makes them feel more ‘at home’.