Category : Stories

Sub Category : Historical Fiction

Like I said in the last chapter, something happened to me before I was laid off. My mother thought I was ready and I agreed. I moved out of my mothers house and into my own apartment by myself. A few months after I move out, two things happened. First, thing, I lost my job because I got laid off again and the second thing was that my mother got another dog. Same kind of dog as Freddy, a Jack Russell terrior and his name was Archie. He was a rescue. His first night and day at my mothers house was okay. He then became almost aggressive, because I guess everything was new to him and he was scared. My mother asked me for help to take him to pet smart because she got a hold of Freddy former instructor and she said to bring Archie in and she can try to help.  We took him there and met with her and she talked to us and told us and showed us what to do. We thanked her and after we left, Archie was like a different dog. He was nice and friendly, especially with my mother. I al said o took Archie for walks, even though I didn't live at home anymore. My mother asked me to. When I hit a certain age, my mother told me that I had to sign a paper, so that the money that I got from my accident, which was my insurance, I still get. If I don't sign then I don't get it but I signed and got it still. After being in my apartment for almost a year, my mother told me that I should go to a place called the opportunity center, which is a place for people with brain injuries to get together, socialize, play games. There was a day and evening where there was a music program there. All this  is part of the brain injury association of Waterloo region that my mother and 6 other ladies started after my accident. My mother wasn't that much involved:ed in it anymore but still some. Its probably because she was busy teaching Kindergarten full time. The music program that they had there, they would sing songs, old songs and new songs and they would write songs about each other in the group. There  was somebody playing on the drums, a few people playing guitars and other instruments that the people in the group can play. I liked to sing Elvis songs and dance like Elvis. The music teacher and I wrote a song together about me. Well, my old song that I wrote when I was a teenager called, "Bicycle accident', he helped me to rewrite it into a better version. The songs name is , "Miracles'. As I was going to the opportunity center in kichener on Tuesday evenings of which my mother would drop me off and pick me up after, I started volunteering. I went to a job bank that would help me get a job. I sat down with the person and we discussed where I would be interested in working at. She told me that  there is a job coming up soon if I'm  interested.   It would be working in the back of a truck, 5 or 6 days a week and about 10 - 12 hours and I and some people would be picked up but across town and at an early time. That would mean that I would need to take the bus really early or get a ride there. Well,I thought about it for a bit, but passed on that for it would be too much for me. So, the job coach and I talked more and I mentioned that I'm good with children. I help my mother in her kindergarten classroom sometimes. She asked me if I would be interested in volunteering in a daycare. I said yes and she set something up at a place called Peekaboo Childcare. At the time I still didn't drive, so I took the bus to Peekaboo childcare for the interview. I remember having the interview. I was dressed in a suit and tie. I went in, introduced my self, and then sat down in the office for the  interview. It went very well. The supervisor there was very nice. I got introduced to some people that I would be working with. Well,  they were working and I was volunteering. It was inside the preschool room. I would be volunteering to see how it goes and see if I can do it. The people there were very nice. So, anyways after I read the big policy book, I also had to get all my needles, make sure I'm up to dare on them. After that, I think I started 1 or 2 weeks after. It went really well. I read to the children, interacted with them, played with them, sang with and to them, and went on some field trips with them.  There was two ladies and one guy in the room. Plus me also. I got along very well with them. One of the ladies said to me sometimes, "Peter, if you can get through this class room, then you got it", meaning that there were some children with behavioral issues but they were still good. I made it through though and all good. Anyways that one day a week of volunteering at Peekaboo childcare turned to two days a week and then three days a week. I even started helping the kitchen lady with the grocery shopping for the daycare. All was good. My mother and I went on vacation that summer to Florida again. This time, on the way back, we had a little accident and had to stay a bit longer in Florida. I remember we, well my mother was driving back on the highway and there was a van in front of us with a body board on top. The body board fell off the van and went towards our car and hit the window on my side, smashed it. So, my mother drove towards and beside the van and we were telling them to pull over over and they did. We told them what happened. At first they didn't believe us, but then when one of them noticed that the board was gone. They then believed us. So, we stayed a week longer there to get the car fixed and we got a rental. That was quite an adventure. When we finally got back home to Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, things were going to change again. I was still at Peekaboo Childcare, but some people told me I should do something, go somewhere, sign up for something, and you know what? I did.