baby maybe

"I'm gonna take the kids up to Horsetooth (reservoir) tomorrow. They've been really good with their school work lately", she told me. 

This was a typical thing for my coworker, CC, to make. She often commented on "the kids" and what they were up to.  I worked with CC at the nursing home. She was assigned to train me on my second day at that job. 

She was 16 years young.

She was 16 and seemingly more mature and responsible than a lot of "grown ups" I've known. Because she was still in high school, her hours were limited at work, but she had proven herself over the previous seven months to be reliable and responsible.  Our managers often tapped her to train new people.

"When I first started working here, I was really uncomfortable, and didn't want to come back. But I made myself keep it up, and now it's okay", she confided to me. 

As with some of the other teens I worked with at the old folks' home, CC activated my maternal instincts. I worried about her working too hard, about her taking too much responsibility for "the kids" - her younger siblings. Later, when I would become her supervisor, she'd sit in the office with me after she'd clocked out and tell me stories about her "crazy" and large extended family.

And I always enjoyed working with CC. As her supervisor, I knew I never had to worry about her slacking off or not following certain protocols - this was in the peak days of covid. There were a LOT of protocols to follow.  We went through a lot of crap together, literally. We got our covid shots at the same time, hanging out for the 15-minute wait-and-see periods. 

I only remember one time CC was late to work. This was alarming, because she was so responsible. I worriedly texted her. Turns out she was so tired after doing her homework the night before, she had inadvertently set her alarm on her calculator.

Yeah, there is no alarm on her calculator.

Around the time I left to take my current job at the college, our then-manager left for a new position at a larger, more upscale senior living establishment. She intelligently recruited CC away to the new place with her. CC and I have kept in touch sporadically since going our separate ways nearly two years ago. 

Earlier this week, I pulled up my facebook, and there was CC, all aglow. All pregnant in photos from her weekend baby shower.  She and her boyfriend looking happy, but SO so young. 

I congratulated her and told her she looks beautiful, which is true. I always figured she'd make a good mom someday, but I've got mixed feelings that it's happening this soon. She is now 19.

Well... at least she's got the crazy and large extended family?

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Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:

4. Write a blog post inspired by the word: late