To be honest, it’s been a rough week and I’m kinda running on an empty writing this.

Things have been pretty crazy at work and, on occasion, its led me to questioning my role in the field I’m in. On top of the work adventures, our apartment is having infestation problems. We’ve had to spend time cleaning, coordinating extermination efforts with neighbors and landlords and contractors, and honestly practically moving out again.

The highlights of my last few days have been the volunteering I accomplished in helping scan my mentor’s notebooks and doing a bit of parking lot cleanup. Plus getting to spend some time in the mountains and around Denver relaxing with friends. However, last night as our friends were returning Evan and I home, I received news that was easily the hardest part of my week.

One of my RYLA conferees, the one who I went to visit in Julesburg, who wowed the camp with her emotionally vulnerable poem, and who played an instrumental role in reminding me why I do RYLA, was in a major car accident. The head-on collision left her hospitalized and with a few needed surgeries but she and her passenger both survived and are recovering. I was grateful that Alek, my JC, was able to accompany me to the hospital today to visit between her surgeries yesterday and tomorrow. We were able to spend awhile talking with her and were happy to hear some of our other conferees had also visited. After Alek left, I headed to the store to bring back some snacks she’d requested and a new journal as a small gift. It was extremely difficult seeing someone I care so much about in such a position and it’s made me think a lot about the role I play in people’s lives. Life is incredibly fragile and I’m so grateful that she is okay but it was such a stark reminder of how short life is and how important it is to do what we can with every day.