| 5 November |
And Much Drama Ensued |
It’s been a week. Not just any week, but one fraught with drama. We’re a co-ed facility. Sometimes it runs smoothly, but there’s always someone who has to throw a spanner into the works. The big boss always tells new residents that forming a new relationship while on day parole is more often than not a ticket back to the penitentiary. And he’s quite right. I’ve been there over 2 years now and I’ve yet to see a relationship that formed between two residents (female and male) work out well for all parties concerned. Someone always ends up back inside. This time it was about alleged physical abuse (male abusing female). Luckily there was a place for the guy to go (there is no other half-way house for women in town but there is for men) and they are now separated and to have no contact.
I say female and male because I’ve never seen female/female or male/male romantic relationships form. That’s not to say that we haven’t had lesbians or gay men as residents, they’ve just not created relationships within the centre.
I had an excellent talk with one of our residents’ relative as well. We started talking about speaking Cree and it segued into his experiences in residential schools and how it affected him. He’s an incredibly strong man and my heart really does go out to him. I hope to have more talks with him. He’s also rekindled my desire to learn Cree, so I’ll be taking my books to work to relearn and hopefully learn from our residents who are fluent speakers.
All in all, I’d have to say that I’m greatly relieved that this week is over with. I have 80 hours so my next cheque should be nicer than usual.
