友人の子供 | My Friend's Child

トロントで僕が初めて勤めた会社で出会った友人の一人。
何かの縁で人は出会っては離れて、出会っては離れてを繰り返すんだけど、年月を思えば、相当長い事、友達でいさせてもらえてる。

僕はもう３０代だし、僕のイメージの中では、その友人の旦那さんは、いつまで経ってもグリーンジャイアントのような長身なイメージがあるし、その友人たち夫婦には、なんと３才の子供がいる。

数年前に失業して目的を見失っていた頃、カレッジに戻りEarly Childhood Educationを卒業した。オンタリオ州ではEarly Childhood Educator (ECE)になれる準備をしたのだ。が、卒業後、安定したパートタイムなりフルタイムのChild Care Centreなどでの仕事につながらず、つなぎで始めた事務系の仕事をいまだに続けている、というのが現状である。

昨日、卒業後初めて、ECEとして仕事をした。たったの１時間だったけれど、ベビーシッターをしたのだ。事務系の仕事が終わってから、友人宅へ行き、友人の旦那さんと、友人の子供のためのTransitionの時間も含めて、談笑。

いよいよ、友人の旦那さんが行こうとすれば、友人の子供は泣き出した。

「そりゃ、辛いね〜、寂しいね〜」と内心思い、僕が鍵っ子だった小学生１年の時の、母が自転車で仕事から帰ってくる直前の、夕焼けで染まった文化住宅の小さな台所の窓を、なぜだか思い出してしまった。

「なんで泣いてるの？」と聞くと「わからない」と答えた。
泣きたい時は泣けばいいもんね、それでいい。

友人の子供はすぐに泣き止んでくれた。
良く喋るしお利口さんだから、僕の短い仕事？時間もとても満たされた１時間になった。
慣れない絵本を、大き過ぎる声で読み、今日は少し喉がおかしい。


There is a friend that I first met at a company that I worked professionally in Toronto for very first time in my life.
For friendships, we repeatedly become friends and get apart for whatever reasons and opportunities in our life. When I think how long I have known her, I have known her and her family for a quite long time now.

I am already in my 30s; my friend's husband is always as tall as Green Giant ONLY in my image no matter how many times I see him; and my friend and her husband have a 3-year-old child now.

When I lost my job and goal a few years ago, I went back to a college and graduated from Early Childhood Education. I practiced and prepared to be an Early Childhood Educator (ECE) in Ontario. However, I couldn't find either part-time or full-time, stable job at a child care centre after graduation. Soon, I got a office administration kind of job to pay my bills and I am still working for the same company now.

I think it was a really first paid job as an ECE after graduation. Yesterday, I babysat my friend's child for an hour (I know it's just for an hour). After finishing my work, I went to my friend's apartment. I saw her husband and enjoyed conversations with him, at the same time, it was to make his child comfortable in a transition as well.

When my friend's husband was leaving, my friend's child finally started to cry.

"Oh yes, it's tough and very sad," I thought in my mind. I somehow started to recall an image when I was a grade 1 – a time before my mother comes back from her work on her bicycle, a window that was coloured red by the sunsetting sky.

I asked why you are crying and my friend's child answered that he doesn't know.
When you want to cry, it's okay to cry.

My friend's child stopped crying shortly.
It became a great one-hour work(?) time for me because he is very talkative and smart.
I read a picture book with my rather too loud voice, so my throat is a little sore today.