Dear Friends,

First the headlines from the year 2000:

ARTHUR’S JOB BECOMES PERMANENT

L’ARCHE VICTORIA RE-STRUCTURES – ALANNA LOSES JOB

JAYS FAIL TO MAKE THE POST-SEASON, ARTHUR TAKES UP THE GUITAR

ALANNA PASSES TEST, EARNS CLASS 4 DRIVER’S LICENSE

Now the details.

You may recall (though I doubt it) that Arthur got a job in May of 1998 working for the Capital Health Region as a non-denominational hospital chaplain. This was a full-time but temporary position. In April of 2000 it became a permanent position. This is the first permanent job Arthur has held since he and Alanna married in 1989. In an interview with this reporter, Arthur said, “It’s funny but I have mixed feelings about finally getting a permanent job. When Alanna and I were only able to get contract positions, we never stayed on a job long enough to get bored. And we took a lot of pleasure dreaming about wonderful jobs that might come our way in the future. It was easier for me to feel like a St. Ignatius or St. Francis (before they enjoyed the security that comes with founding a successful religious order), living year-to-year on God’s bounty, living by faith. Yeah, it was a precarious, butterflies-in-the-tummy lifestyle, but it was spiritually rich. Would I go back to it? No, I’ve grown attached to the security of a job that should last till I retire, unless the government cuts back on funding or I quit.”

So I asked Arthur if he liked the job. “Well, mixed feelings there too. There’s far too much pastoral work for one chaplain – I’m responsible for four extended care hospitals. So most of my time is spent finding volunteers from the community to do the actual pastoral care. I don’t spend much time doing hands-on pastoral care with residents (patients). I spend a lot of time holed up in my office doing administration. The introvert part of me doesn’t mind, but the part that wants to tell the world about Jesus suffers.”

So, Arthur, are you happy? “I’ve felt happier in times past but I’ve never felt as good about myself. It’s one of those periods where you just slog through and the persevering makes a better person of you. Having Alanna by my side makes it a lot easier. We’re so aware of our faults and shortcomings, that each of us thinks it’s a bit of a miracle that the other puts up with us. Do you think that has something to do with love?” Sorry, mister, we reporters just ask the questions.

Alanna has the habit of talking to herself, but I was able to interrupt her internal dialogue long enough to get an interview. I asked her how she came to lose her job with L’Arche Victoria. “I started out in 1997 helping out with typing and office work at L’Arche and eventually they asked me to take on the job of Assistant Director in December of ’97. It wasn’t too long before I saw things that I would like to change in the way the organization does things. Diplomacy has never been my strong point. I’ve never had the gift of saying something critical about someone in a way that made them feel like they were being complimented. It’s hard to say how much of the estrangement with the Director resulted from philosophical differences and how much was due to a clash of personalities. I think it came down to “one of us has to go” and the Board, not surprisingly, decided to stick with the Director.

“But it’s not L’Arche’s style to fire someone. So they restructured and abolished my job and invited me to apply for a somewhat similar position in the new structure. Someone better qualified for the new position got it. They offered me an entry-level position working with the developmentally challenged people who live in the L’Arche homes, but I felt that if I couldn’t work happily as Assistant Director, there’s no way I could work happily in any other position. The sources of conflict and dissatisfaction would still be there.”

I asked her when the job ended and what she has been doing since. “I finished about the end of May this year. Art’s job had become permanent so we still felt okay economically. The L’Arche job left me exhausted and I needed rest and time to heal my inner self which was feeling pretty angry and raw. I started going to a gym and getting physio for some long-standing aches and pains. It’s made a big difference. I can finally reach behind me and not feel pain in my arm. I’ve done lots of things I didn’t have the time or energy to do when I worked for L’Arche. I do the cooking now. (Art cooks when we’re both working.) I’m beginning to feel like looking for another job – which will make Art happy. He’s not keen on being the sole breadwinner in the family.”

So, was losing your job the hardest thing you’ve gone through this year? “No, losing my father was. Dad died in February after three months of illness. Fortunately I was able to spend a week with him just before he died. We said what we needed to say to each other. I loved him and I miss him. So does Art, who feels a bit cheated that he didn’t have more time to be with Dad. I was surprised at how hard Art took Dad’s death. I don’t think I’ve seen Art sadder or more emotionally exhausted than on the flight home after the funeral.”

I asked Arthur about Tom McQuaid’s death. “Yeah, I was surprised at how hard it hit me. Last week was Tom’s birthday. He would always take his daughters out to a fancy restaurant on his birthday and pick up the tab. So Alanna and I went to a local fancy restaurant and had a meal in his honour. We picked a beer we thought he’d like and toasted him. I felt he was there with us. And picking up the tab in some mysterious way. Don’t ask me what that means.”

So, Arthur, what’s this about the Jays not making the play-offs and your taking up the guitar? “I think I’m addicted to Blue Jays baseball. When they blew their chance to make the play-offs, it was bad enough, but the really hard part was NO GAMES TO WATCH when the season ended. I’ve decided that I would rather be addicted to playing the guitar and that it would be better for me anyway, so I bought a guitar and am teaching myself. The only drawback is that watching the Jays is something I can share with Alanna (she feels my pain) and I can’t share the guitar with her. Playing the guitar is a pretty introverted activity and Alanna doesn’t need me to be any more introverted than I am.”

And finally, Alanna, what’s this about a class 4 drivers license? “One job possibility is driving handicapped people for the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Victoria, but I need a class 4 license to do it. So I studied hard and passed both the written and driving test on the 8th of December. Now I’ll see if I get the job. You know, I’d love to drive a big eighteen-wheeler semi, but that requires a class 1 license. Do you think I should go for it?” Sorry, lady, we reporters just ask the questions.

And that’s it folks: some of the news that’s fit to print. If you want anything juicier, you’ll have to visit us. E-mail us at menu@highspeedplus.com.

Have the best of Christmases and God bless you!

Art and Alanna