After a 32 hour bus ride with a dozen pee stops at country road gas stations, we are currently in Saskatchewan and the endless fields and plethora of trucks reminded me of home. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss home but I’m finding a new home on the road. It was awesome to do a show for the small school of Radville Regional High. I come from a small town and it felt like I was back home doing a show! The people there were incredibly welcoming and super excited to see us. One of the students introduced us and told me a fact that I didn’t even know. She said, “We were the most popular school assembly in Canada”. Throughout the show the students roared and clapped and once I realized the excitement in these youths, I felt a lot better. This was just what I needed to remind me that we are here to make a difference in their lives.
So after the presentation the kids immediately piled out and I was scared that our message wasn’t heard because they left so quickly. Turns out they just had to return their chairs so they could come back to talk to us! We ended up staying for a while talking to them about programs in their school and they shared about their own stories. My favorite part of touring is definitely talking with students after the presentation. They always have interesting things to say and they are genuinely interested in what we have to say. While we were hanging out after the show a couple of students snuck off. They went to our bus and covered the ceiling in sticky notes! I don’t think anyone could love those sticky notes more than we did. They are still on the ceiling, and we don’t plan on taking them down as they remind us every day that what we do makes a difference in kids lives. Here is a couple examples of what some of them say: ”you guys rock”, “you made me want to LiveDifferent”, “PLEASE come back every year!”, or my personal favorite “you guys are heros in so many ways”. I can speak for everyone in saying that we all came to the realization that what we are doing is really making an impact. It was reassuring that those kids got something out of our presentation. I can’t exactly put into words the feeling we got while reading all the notes but it was the perfect way to start the tour. It definitely made the thirty two hour bus ride with 10 sets of stinky feet worth it.
On top of the awesome kids were meeting, there are people allowing us to stay in their homes. They feed us and give us a place to sleep as if we were their own family. I love that purely out of the goodness of their hearts they put us up for a couple days. Even though lasagna is a going to be my main foodgroup this fall, I’ll always appreciate that they are giving up their time and doing anything to make us comfortable.
That’s all for now! The road tour has only just begun and it’s already shaping into something incredible.
