What a beautiful life we are living

What I love most about traveling with a friend is creating new memories while deepening the existing relationship.

(I took this photo on Jan. 15, 2022 at 10am in Cusco Peru)

Jocelyn and I have known each other for eight years. Sometimes we talk a few times a week. Sometimes we don't talk for months. But we always made a point of seeing each other.

I've noticed in a lot of distance friendship, there is a moment where you have to decide, “is this a relationship I am willing to maintain.” Often times enough, friendships are the last relationship on the priority list. The working relationships take precedence, then the romantic relationships, next up is the family members, and then if you have anytime at all, that is where your friendships can squeak in.

Choosing to learn about someone from a different walk of life has been truly eye opening. We all have the same struggles but circumstances change the outcome. Having the ability to remove yourself from a problematic situation creates room to process.

Jocelyn and I had the same hardship when it came to working. We both faced incompetent upper managers that used their positions to hide behind their lack of ability.

**Side Note* My former plant manager and HR has recently resigned from the whiskey distillery in Maine. Their secret is out. They are both individuals are married but have engaged in an “intimate” relationship together. The C Crew Shift Manager told me along with the operations manager (a married man with kids) is sleeping with his assistant operations manager (a young female from Missouri).

The same week the C Crew Shift Manager told me that all the managers where screwing each other, the operations manager searched for my Podcast.*

Jocelyn was managing a dog training facility for upper class pet owners in Dallas, Texas. She had four days of "training" before she was thrown into her role of managing an entire facility, along with scheduling and managing 10 direct reports. However, this was her dream job and she embraced the challenge.

One morning in October 2021, an employee was late to work. In the world of animal care, the dogs are the priority. Jocelyn couldn't wait any longer, and took out a pit bull to go potty. This particular pit was known to have aggressive tendencies. Which is why it was in a dog training facility.

That morning, Jocelyn was mauled by a pit bull, alone in the facility, for 10 minutes. She has scars all over her body and face as physical proof.

Prior to this happening, Jocelyn had put in several request for more staffing to the owner of this establishment. She also had expressed being over worked doing 80 overs a week and felt overwhelmed with the amount dogs to employee ratio.

While still healing from the attack, Jocelyn and the owner of the dog training facility had a one on one meeting. The owner was going to reassign Jocelyn's role and demote her for getting attacked. She (the owner) also emotionally abused Jocelyn by saying everyone of the trainers hated her. With that, Jocelyn asked what she could do to keep her position. The owner told her she didn't want to file the unemployment paper work and said the best scenario was for Jocelyn to leave.

Jocelyn was physically abused, emotionally manipulated, and mentally exhausted.

She left her job.

Since then, she has been struggling to get by supporting herself and finding another job. Jocelyn was dog walking and private training, but that takes time to build relationships, and the income wasn't the same she was use to living on.

I asked her if she wanted to restart with me and we can heal together. She said yes and now we are here together.

Life in a developing country is beautiful and humbling. Please subscribe to my You Tube channel to see what our current life looks like in Peru.

Until the next post!

Cheri