20. Helping out a friend

Okay, so my friends know that this really isn’t unusual of me. I have gone out on a limb for people who depended on me especially when I happen to be the only who will speak out what others are afraid to say. But when it comes to friends, I go out of my way, and sometimes drag other people along, just to help!

Mind you, it’s not like I plan my day the night before by saying “Hmmm, tomorrow I think I’ll help Annie. I should find out what she needs help in.” Really, most of the time it’s totally spontaneous, and when it all works out, I get a bit of happiness out of it. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t do it so I get to feel good.  It’s completely the other way around: I feel good because I do it.

So my new friend Lori was moving and she was telling me about how she found this cozy basement apartment where she’d finally have her own completely private space that wasn’t just a bedroom. I knew exactly how she felt, because I felt exactly the same way (or quite nearly, I suppose) when I moved into my very own apartment to live in by myself in 2009. It really is the first time in my life that I had a living space that was all mine. No, hotel rooms where I stayed by myself when I travelled to deliver workshops and seminars do not count. The longest I ever stayed in any such place was a week. And those were all temporary.

Naturally, I asked her if she needed any help, and somehow it came around to my saying that Peter has a truck and I’m sure he’d be willing but I’d ask him first. And I did. And Peter, in his wonderfully kind-hearted and generous way, said he’d se what he could do about it…which really means yes.

So early this morning (early for a Saturday morning, that is) at 9:30, I called Peter and let him know I was ready to go. He drove around to pick me up and we drove off to Lori’s place, arriving just as she was getting back from her first load of furniture with another friend she had asked for help from. We were speculating that we could do short work of it if we had another truck, and didn’t a quarter-ton pull up, with a couple more friends to help! So with three trucks and two loads each, we got Lori all moved by around 12:30 p.m. Of course it was a totally unprofessional move, and would have infuriated anyone paying us by the hour, but there were a lot of chat-breaks and periods of trying to figure out how to position the boxes and furniture in the trucks and so on.

Pizza and more chat time after the move ended the morning and we finally broke off around 1:30 p.m., mainly because Lori had to go attend a kid’s birthday party and we had our respective Saturdays to return to.

Needless to say, it was fun, with many enjoyable moments, no mishaps, and new friends to boot. Not that we’re likely to bump into Lori’s other friends, but they do mostly work in town, so we are likely to bump into them.

PEI keeps getting smaller, little by little — or more like my little world is getting wider, day by day!