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Maye:

GACCofA? Should I be part of this conversation?

Jayce Holiday (producer):

Sorry. Great American Christmas Convention of America. They might want to feature the show at their convention in December!

Maye quickly shifted into logistics mode and opened every calendar she could find. The end of August was only a couple of weeks away, so that did not leave her a lot of time to shift around her appointments. Luckily, she didn’t have a significant other to consider.

Maye:

Wow, looks like I missed a lot overnight. Yes, I think I can make that work. I can move some work appointments around and switch others to remote. How long would you need me? How would I get there? Sorry, I have a lot of basic questions, I guess.

Chris:

We’ll take care of getting you here, lodging, per-diem, etc. Actually, didn’t you ask about your cousin traveling with you?

Maye:

Oh wow, thanks! Yes, that was kind of a joke when you said I should go to a movie set.

It was only sort of a joke. Having Tracy with her would be comforting, but also Tracy would love it. Maye didn’t want to seem pushy and make irrational demands or anything at this point, but it would be nice.

Jayce Holiday (producer):

I don’t think it’s in the budget for this round of recording to fly additional people in at this stage.

Maye:

What if we drive? And share a hotel room?

Chris:

Problem solved!

Jayce Holiday (producer):

That works. As long as you can be there for recording, I’m good.

Dear journal, today marks the start of my depression stage of grief. I’m too excited to be sad. Will write more later!

When Maye arrived at work, she stopped in the kitchen first so she would not have to leave her office and risk an impromptu run-in with a co-worker. She topped off her water, grabbed a couple of granola bars from the cabinet, and filled a cup of coffee at the Keurig machine. This way, she could isolate herself for as long as possible during the day. It was time for some introspection and hopefully some sadness. She wanted to call Tracy to tell her about their trip to Halifax, but it was still too early to get her on the phone, and Maye did not want to worry Tracy with a “I have something to tell you” texts, so she’d have to wait a little longer to tell her the fun news.

Her first appointment of the day was with Karren, a client whom she had apparently last seen during her angry stage of grief.

“So I took your advice,” Karren said as she sat down.

“Oh?” Maye waited for a bit more information.

“Mmhm,” Karren nodded. “You told me not to take any more crap from people.”

“Surely I didn’t say that…did I?” Maye couldn’t recall their exact conversation, and she didn’t have anything in her notes about telling that to Karren. Maye was typically very careful not to prescribe specific advice. She liked her sessions to be a discovery conversation where she and the client could unearth issues and discuss solutions. She preferred some gentle mirroring, clarifying questions, and affirmation as her go-to techniques.

“Well,” Karren softened a bit. “Not in those exact words, but that was the general sentiment.”

A light wave of relief washed over Maye.

“Well, sounds like you are making some progress, Karren. So tell me about it.”