I think I just got dumped…

Today I had the strangest sensation after having a very unexpected conversation with the wonderful woman who started out as the main therapist/teacher at the Rainbow Center (the rehab. Center for children in Artemivsk that I helped renovate). She had been working as a volunteer for the past two months with the promise that she would have a salary once we were able to secure more donations. Things were moving slowly and I felt terribly that she was volunteering so much of her time (3 hours a day!) without the pay that was promised but I wasn’t sure what to do to make everything move along more quickly…I’m new at this whole thing you see. Well, while back in the US for those 2 weeks I figured out a short-term solution and a way to pay her for at least 4 months.

So, yesterday I rode up to the center at the times she was usually there to give her the good news! I arrived to locked doors and a deserted room. Plan B…head to the main office to speak to the director of the building. She was thrilled to see me back after being away so long and let me into the Rainbow Center space. I could see that more work had been done after I left…there were new decorations on the walls… evidence that kids had been there working long after my last visit. The director explained that the therapist had stopped coming two weeks prior, stating that she could no longer afford to work without any pay. I nodded my head. I wasn’t surprised…I had been so grateful to her for sticking around as long as she had. But, I was confident. Now that I had figured out the financial situation, she would be happy to return to work!

So, I called the therapist and asked if we could meet this morning. She seemed hesitant but my resolve was unshaken. Surely she would be overjoyed to get back to work…she would be so happy to see that I had worked everything out to pay her for the two months prior and for two additional months! Everything would be fine. I started making a list of all the grand ideas I had for the future of the center. She would love them. She would ooh and ahh and be so inspired! I was looking forward to a great meeting.

This morning I woke to rare sunshine and I thought, yes…it is going to be a great day…maybe D and I can get back to working in the rehab center as early as this afternoon! I spotted her in the park and her face lit up in a smile and she jogged to give me a big hug. A happy reunion!! We strolled a bit and exchanged cordialities and then found a nice bench in the sun to sit and have a little chat. Thankfully, I let her speak first, otherwise I can’t imagine how much more dreadfully the whole scene would have played out. While she explained (in Russian) the whole story I nodded my head in understanding…thinking that I already knew the whole story. Thinking the whole time “I wish she would just stop talking so I can pull out my magic envelope of money and we can get to the giggling and the excitement!” Suddenly something she was explaining was not fitting with the story I had worked out in my head…wait, are you saying you can’t continue working at the center…ever…again…???? But…wha….no…it doesn’t make sense….I don’t understand (and not just because it was said in a foreign language)…

I felt a bit like Prince Charming pulling out Cinderella’s glass slipper when I pulled the crisp white envelope out of my bag and held it in two hands saying “but don’t you see…I have the solution right here!”

No, Sarah…she said. I need more stability. You will be fine without me. You will find someone younger, someone smarter, someone more experienced than me. The center will be great. But no, I cannot work there anymore…the paperwork is already filed.

I teared up. I’ve never quite felt this way before. Never in my life have I been dumped…until now… I have been dumped by a middle-aged Ukrainian woman…in a foreign language. They didn’t cover this in the orientation…