This is Caleb. He comes here every Monday for work experience. He does things like water plants, walks one of our dogs, and sometimes he helps set up lunch. Mainly the point is for him to learn how to behave in a work environment. Shake people’s hands, look them in the eye, don’t stare or repeat yourself over and over. I remind him of this and so does his aid he comes here with. He’s doing a great job in his 6 months coming here… there have been a lot of improvements. I started working with Caleb many years ago as you see in the photo below. At the time he could not speak in sentences. Now he says things unprompted like, “I’m here to walk Comet.”
It’s hard because I have to pretend like I’m not moved by this progress. We are at work. We behave professionally. And because of work, because of how busy we are here at Heirloom, I don’t get to see Caleb much at all outside of it so I don’t get to hug him as friends often do. This is a dilemma. I truly love the guy.
So until we do meet up to go to a concert or to the mall, some of our favorite things to do together, I will do my best to just shake his hand and shake his aid’s hand, and act like we are professionals. I’m pretty sure it’s more challenging for me than it is for him.
So great that you are giving him the opportunity to gain some valuable experience there. I know in the 6 years that I have known him and worked with him, I have seen incredible advancements. I understand your dilemma as well; you are not just walking a thin line, you live on both sides of it. Kudos to both of you for the learning experience.
~Leah
The brilliant part about Caleb is he teaches us just as much as we do him. And it is so hard to resist giving him a big hug, he’s so darn charming.
Lyndsay