Bergen and Associates Counselling will open tomorrow morning at 1483 Pembina Highway, ready for clients to work with therapists to remove the barriers that interfere with them making the sorts of connections in their lives that they really desire. We are excited to be working out of the new space, and are thrilled with how cozy it has already become.
We saw clients as per usual until the end of the business day on Thursday…and then we became like busy bees packing up and getting ready to go. The prep had started behind the scenes weeks before, but on Thursday, after clients left, the boxes came out and we started packing.
When I left for the day on Friday, we were ready to go. All the boxes packed, things disconnected, technology dismantled, and ready to go. I wandered around the rooms, looking at how it didn’t look like “home” anymore…the counselling office where I have worked for almost 12 years. A great percentage of my life has been spent working here. I have developed significantly as a therapist here, worked with remarkable colleagues over the years, had some great friends in those who have worked here, have had moving conversations with clients that have changed lives, witnessed the courage of clients in ways that has personally inspired me, and much much more. Generally, I have grown up and developed as a human being here in ways which I could never have predicted when I started all those years ago. I have skills I never expected to acquire; I have had laughter and joy, and sadness and heartbreak I never could have predicted while working here; I have made connections that have made me richer within these walls. What has happened within the walls here has been an experience that overall, I would best describe as sacred. Some past clients who might read this, may recall conversations and know of which I speak.
Suddenly, it became hard to leave…hadn’t counted on that. Realizing that in the excitement of saying “hello” to the new place, I hadn’t counted on the sadness in saying “goodbye” to the familiar, loved place that was home to my work for so long.
Life is often like that…
- new moms coming to see me because they weep for the days of sleeping through the night, days of not worrying about a child’s fever, or the carefree ability to go to a movie or dancing whenever the mood might hit–even though they love their child deeply, and don’t regret being a parent
- retired folk who couldn’t wait to have the time for golfing and cleaning closets are surprised by how much they miss the daily routine of saying good morning to the fellow on the corner, to the guy in the office as they go down the hallway, and hearing the banter of their colleagues during workbreaks
Very often, even much anticipated “hello’s” require some bittersweet goodbyes.
So…early Saturday morning, after a few delays
- locked all my keys in our new office as I went to give it one final vacuum before we put the furniture in…I ducked out of the office for just a moment…and the door closed behind me. I’m not used to the new door locking system…and it bit me. The extra keys were soon on their way with some of my tribe who was helping me move…whew.
- when I went to pick up the truck…15 minutes later than intended, I had to wait for the fellow who was renting it out to me. His wife explained that he went off to get breakfast…especially important because “he skeenny like chopstick” she explained in broken but extraordinarily pleasant English. Had a great visit with her.
We got the plants, lamps and artwork, and the smaller boxes moved before lunch…
No move is complete without pizza, pop, cookies, and some hearty laughs over the silly antics and memories of previous moves, of old friendships, and of new connections as friends and members of my tribe meeting each other for the first time. A little breather in a long day.
After lunch was the heavy lifting…the part I’d been dreading and wondering and worrying about…wondering if things would get through doors, if things would get broken, if backs would be hurt, and so on. Some of those workers were determined to get the move done…or die trying, it seemed. Filing cabinets are heavy…as was the determination of my committed helpers. They were amazing.
I think Melanie didn’t get the memo that said she gets paid to work days Monday-Friday…she worked like a trooper all day Saturday. Amazing. It is humbling when co-workers, friends who have helped before and are willing to answer the call again, and tribe members who hung in there after helping with painting and renos–when all these gather together to make something happen. And laugh and giggle along the way in good humor, enjoying the being together, and the companionship of gittin’er done.
After moving in…amongst mutterings of…”There’s too much stuff in here” and “How are they going to fit everything?” our trusty volunteer crew of movers left Melanie and I to sort it out. By then we were tired, but too stubborn to leave…wanting to get some sense of order so we could see what the place was going to shape into. Of course, that meant trying to figure out how to shift things around…and in order to get one piece of furniture in place, three other things had to be moved to the side, even though there wasn’t room really to do so…but slowly, the office as we dreamt it began to emerge.
It might be a few days before we get the fountain running and the pictures hung. But…we are pumped about the move, and have good memories of the day. It is a move filled with anticipation of the future mixed with fond and sad memories of what was.
Thanx to friends and family who helped us. Your work will make a difference in the lives of many who you will never know of, or meet. Your work already made a difference in my life…renewing my enthusiasm in the value of community, in finding laughter and fun in the midst of hard work, in the feeling of being loved by the investment of time and energy into something very important to me.
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