A Year Ago My Chacho Aaron Moved to New York City and More Purple Hats

You may remember how hard it was for me to let Joshua (my Chacho Aaron) go to New York and how miserable I was for the longest time? But after my brother passed away and Joshua came to visit over Christmas holiday; I seemed to have a different perspective on him being away. Don’t get me wrong, I still miss him terribly, some days more than others, but I know that if I have to I can get on a plane and be there in a short amount of time. The hardest part is when I know he’s sick and I can’t be there to hand him a tissue or a cool rag for his brow.

I know it’s been a long time since I have wrote about Joshua and some of you may know that he’s been looking for a job ever since he moved there. He was unsuccessful the first school year, although he was volunteering for the Irish Repertoire Theatre he wasn’t getting paid for it.

So in May when he had to move out of the dorms and into an apartment, (that’s him in his new apartment) he started really searching hard for a job. The school was helpful and talked with a Street Carnival company to see if they could use a good worker (Joshua) and they said yes. So, Joshua went to work for the Street Carnival. He was told that he was going to get trained on how to run one of the game booths, but when he got to the job site on his first day he found out that the on the job training was to be thrown into the booth and just let go. He was shown how the game was run and how much money it cost and that’s all, he soon found out that everything that he could do wrong he did it. For instance, he took tickets instead of cash, he let someone sit on the chair without playing the game, and he left the cash inside the booth while he went to ask the boss a question, when the carnival moved to a different area of town he wasn’t charging enough for the game. (Of course he wasn’t told that they change prices in different areas of town) Anyway to say the least he got yelled at a lot!!!! Joshua really hated the job but it paid very well and he knew that he needed to keep it in order to pay his way until something else came along. Even after he started with the Street Carnival he kept applying at different places and about 3 or 4 weeks later Old Navy called him in for an interview. He went and they called him back for a second interview on a Saturday, the Old Navy person really liked the way Joshua presented himself and decided to hire him. Joshua was set to go for his orientation the next day on Sunday. I received a call a few minutes before he was supposed to show up and it was Joshua saying that he overslept and that he had really messed up. He had called the person who hired him but Joshua said that he didn’t think that they had really thought that he was sincere and he had asked if he could attend another orientation. The person said that he would have to check and call him back. I could hardly contain myself and tried to reassure him that they would call him back. I hung up the phone and just cried, then I got an idea and I called Joshua back and asked him if he could go to Old Navy and be there when they got out of orientation and talk to the person who hired him and I told him he could even get down on his hands and knees and beg them to give him the job and explain to them that he really needed the job and that he would do a really good job if they would just give him a chance. Joshua seemed to perk up and thanked me for thinking of that, because he was going to do just that. He called me later that day and said that he walked right in and told the man that he really didn’t make a habit of oversleeping and that if he would give him a second chance that he would do a good job for him. The man was very pleased to see a young man Joshua’s age come in and be so sincere with his words and his actions and said that he really did appreciate the way he acted and yes he had the job. So Joshua started the very next weekend and when he told the Street Carnival that he wanted to work both jobs; the Street Carnival boss said that it sounded like Joshua was turning in his resignation because when you work for him you work for him exclusively. Joshua said I guess I have to say “I Quit”! As soon as he did that he gave me a call and told me all about what he had just done. I told him that I was very proud of him and understood why he had to make a choice and told him that he had made the right one. The Old Navy position wasn’t seasonal as the Street Carnival was and Joshua has no regrets in the choice that he made. I’m so proud of him for what he has learned in the short amount of time that he’s been gone and I know that he wouldn’t have learned any of that if he would’ve stayed here. Now he’s started his second year with the New York Conservatory for the Dramatic Arts and only time will tell where that will lead him. I’ll make sure I keep you all up-to-date on all his adventures as his life progresses.

Ok, so now if you’re still with me; on to the Purple Hats. I presented a challenge to the KS My Stitch Crochet guild to make 150 hats before our next meeting on September 19^th, so I decided to go and get another skein of purple I Love This Yarn at Hobby Lobby to help out. I made 7 more hats and it looks like I’ll have enough yarn to complete 8 hats and with a little other yarn to go with it I’ll be able to make the 9^th hat out of just one skein of yarn. That will make 20 hats for me alone, I just have a feeling that we will surpass the 150 by the time that Kaye will turn the hats into the Kansas Children’s Service League. Yippee!!!! I hope everyone is having a good week and I hope all your days are filled with whatever you like to do.