聽I ran up to a hockey game the other day in Wawota with a friend I wanted to go for an outing, but I also figured I should get a few photos for the paper. On our drive we started talking about work and coaching volleyball, what I felt was out of nowhere she asked, 鈥淒o you ever do anything for yourself?鈥�
I play on a ladies team, make time to go kayaking in the summer, and do find time to do things for myself; although my schedule can be quite hectic. However, I would be lost without Lynne here at work. To me coaching is something I kind of do for myself, but to also give back to the community because that鈥檚 how I was raised, to be involved. And it鈥檚 definitely easier to be involved when you鈥檙e passionate about what you鈥檙e doing.
If Lynne weren鈥檛 here though I know for a fact I wouldn鈥檛 be able to commit my time to it because every Monday and Thursday night if something comes up, and nearly every weekend, she works.
So, when the question of doing things for myself came up, I realized that if you鈥檙e being a good person, you do find time for yourself, but you give a lot of yourself too. In this instance I鈥檓 not saying I鈥檓 a good person, I like to think I am, but Lynne is an amazing person.
Not only does she let me have the time off I need to be at practices, she gives up her weekends to cover events, so I can go do something I love to do. I often feel quite selfish because of this and hope that there will be some way I can make it up to her. Though she does get a couple days off each week, it鈥檚 different getting a Thursday and Friday off as opposed to a Saturday and Sunday. Days off during the week just have a different feel about them and quite often people you鈥檇 like to spend time with or make plans with are only available on actual weekends because they work regular Monday to Friday hours.
The thing is I know she鈥檚 going to come into my office after I set this on her desk to check for spelling and grammatical errors, and tell me that I鈥檓 worried about nothing, that she鈥檚 good with everything and will say 鈥淕o Vipers.鈥�
I appreciate everything she鈥檚 done for me because of this and will definitely be trying to make it up to her in the future.
A lot of the time when I start writing my column I don鈥檛 know where I鈥檒l end up, and in this instance I鈥檝e come upon appreciation. I started writing and quickly it developed into an appreciation of Lynne. I鈥檝e said thank you to her before and I鈥檝e told her that I will make anything I can work for her to have time off once volleyball is over, in fact I鈥檇 be willing to work every weekend for the whole of summer if she asked for every weekend off.
But, I don鈥檛 always think people show their appreciation for those that are there for them enough. Saying thank you and that you appreciate them is one thing, but doing something for them is quite another. Whether it鈥檚 writing them a note to express how you really feel, buying them a small gift as a thank you, making them a jar of soup, shovelling their walk on occasion during the winter, or any other small act. Showing them through more than saying thank you is important I think.
So, Lynne, you will never know how much I truly appreciate you and your help, but I hope this column is a glimpse at how highly I think of everything you鈥檝e done for me so that I can be a dependable coach of volleyball.
