Heather's move to Toronto

Little did I suspect at last posting about two weeks ago the experiences HEATHER was about to encounter after she and Sarah arrived in Toronto. They had enjoyed a leisurely drive through the U.S. with visits along the way at Mt. Rushmore, Niagara Falls, other tourist sites and Grandma's house on Lake Erie in Port Dover, described by Sarah as the nicest house in town. They were totally unprepared for what had been described as a clean one bedroom unit in a friendly atmosphere leased sight unseen by Heather for six months and with the first and last month rent paid in advance. Their was no fridge or stove,requiring them to continue eating out,cobwebs were clearly visible where the walls and ceiling meet, the bathtub and shower caulking was missing in spots and mildew was taking over and the notorious golden cockroach could be seen crawling around which neither of them had ever previously seen. They chose to spend another evening in a hotel.Next day apartment manager told her appliances were in need of repairs and replacements would be available soon and if they bought a 99 cent piece of china chalk and drew around the perimeter of the room the roaches would not pass over it. (they later discovered that this really works )Next day they were talking to a person away from the apartment who advised them that cockroaches should be the least of Heather's worries as the security personnel at the place wear bullet proof vests because of the high level of violence with knives and firearms. In addition people like to throw beer bottles from upper rooms of this 24 floor building at blond haired females who are entering below. After Sarah flew back to Calgary, Heather decided to move out of the apartment, but feared going back and forth to her car in the underground garage at night. She wanted to write a letter to the building managers and had only a pencil with which to write. Even though she had a laptop, the cords she needed to connect it were in her car so she decided to wait until it was light the next day to begin the moving process. At around the time next day when I expected to be hearing that she had packed her things and moved out she phoned and was crying so much it was difficult at first to understand her. I ascertained that she was behind the wheel of her car and persuaded her to find a safe place to pull over and stop driving whereupon she related through deep sobbing in a frantic tone that several minutes earlier she had just witnessed a man get shot near the entrance to the building where she was staying.It was apparent that she was experiencing a full blown post traumatic stress reaction and I immediately began the process of assisting her to regain control of her heightened state of anxiety by instructing her in concentrating on her breathing through deep nasal inhalations followed by slow exhalations through her mouth. In less than a minute she was again breathing normally and able to stop crying and talk about her situation. She stated that she had just driven up to the apartment when suddenly a man ran by and up to another man and shot him in the back four times with a pistol. She did not know anything about the victim's condition as we spoke. Earlier that morning before leaving her apartment she had attempted to get a refund on her rent advance without success and with a statement from the person on duty that she probably would get a refund if she took her case to the landlord-tenant board. She still had to pack her belongings back at the apartment. I advised her that she should return immediately to take care of that as there were certain to be plenty of police and emergency personnel at the apartment for a while and to call me as soon as she was finished and out of the place.
When she phoned that afternoon she was out and away,but unsure as to where she would go. I suggested perhaps she contact a good friend of her brother, Tom Loewen, who is a worship pastor at a church in St. Catherine's Ontario, where he lives with his family and who may be able to find a safe place for her to stay for a short while where she could collect her thoughts and formulate a new plan. It is about a 1 hour drive from Toronto according to her brother. Alternatively, she might consider returning to her grandmother's house for the same purpose which is about a 2 hour drive from Toronto. Before she left Calgary with her sister I had given her a cheque to pay the moving company for bringing the rest of her belongings to Toronto. I told her that she could use it to live on while she was deciding what to do. The next few days involved numerous phone calls between us as she gradually made her way back to Calgary on Highway No. 1, including staying 2 nights at the first motel after lying awake for 12 hours the first night. She had to spend $300 plus on a car repair at Wilmar one day. Another night, in Winnipeg, Manitoba after finding No Vacancies at the first three places she tried she found a place for $150 per night where the balding desk clerk in his fifties and with a wedding ring offered to join her in her room to watch a movie or to fill up the hot tub in the back of the motel where she could relax after her long drive and oh no, not to worry about not having a bathing suit as she would be alone. In the wee hours she phoned again and spoke to me in a whisper which was barely audible and where she described lying in bed in complete darkness after hearing a scratching noise at the door to her room. She would not agree to my suggestion of calling the police, stating she felt no real danger given that the door to her room was double locked including the safety chain lock on the inside of the room. As it turned out, it had been the clerk making the scratching sound on her door as he was filling out a cancellation of the $150 room charge and sliding it under the door. We figure he must of realized his comments to her had been out of line and hoping she would not report him to anyone.
We kept in touch the following day as she phoned from Regina, Saskatchewan, Lethbridge, Alberta and finally Calgary where she arrived on Saturday evening with an arrangement to begin work the following day in the kitchen of the Signal Hill branch of the Kelsey`s restaurant chain. Hallelujah !!





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