When I started at the newspaper years ago, I met one of my favourite bosses ever, Dave.

Dave is tall and handsome and funny and sincere and caring and encouraging and smart. He listened. We bought each other coffees and he bugged me each time I went outside for a cigarette. He was the proudest when I quit. I work-adored him.

One of the things that showed Dave’s true character was his devotion to Big Brothers. He was an in-school mentor to a boy whose name escapes me, but that Dave treasured. No matter how busy we were or what the weather was like, Dave made his appointment with his little guy. They’ve been partnered for years, and their friendship has blossomed outside of school.

After I heard about the mentor program, I was dying to be involved. (In-school doesn’t mean you tutor, but meet in the school environment for a fun hour to chat, play games, go for walks, do crafts etc., which sounds so fun.) But my work location, commute, time, pregnancy and subsequent maternity leave prevented me from being able to commit to a school/location. So I never got into it, as much I wanted to.

Until now!

The stars have aligned in the perfect scenario for mentoring: I work minutes from the school, have a flexible schedule, and am finally settled. So a few weeks ago, when Big Brothers/Big Sisters ran an ad in our local paper, I emailed right away.

And this week, I got the news that they’ve matched me with a boy named Carl. He’s 11, in grade 6 at my old senior public school. He loves art.

We meet next Wednesday. I’m excited and nervous all at the same time. Last night I read through all the mentor paperwork on suggested activities, what to talk about, how to manage the relationship.

I’m thrilled.

Obviously I can’t divulge too much about Carl — and definitely want to talk to him about what I write here to make sure he’s comfortable — but I do want to document our (hopeful!) friendship in its parallel to Lucy.

Wish us luck.

(ps — today is the last day of NaBloPoMo, and I’m looking forward to a nice break this weekend. It actually wasn’t hard to post an additional two days a week, but it will be nice to have the flexibility to skip a day…)

Possibly related posts:

1. Carly n’ Carl, with or without doughnuts
2. Old, in, like, seven years
3. Dear Carly, in July:
4. Eric’s already planning his escape for 2020
5. Solstice before school