Catherine George

PhD student at @WesternU Research Assistant @WesternUFamMed, @McGillU grad

[CanStroke Recovery Trials @canstroke]

Wrapped up an incredible two days of the Stroke Program in Neurorecovery (SPiN) Workshop. Trainees in the field of stroke research from around the world toured facilities at Foothills Medical Centre and the Alberta Children’s Hospital

[CanStroke Recovery Trials @canstroke]

An incredibly moving lecture by Sandy and Larry Varcoe, the 2024 Nieboer Lecture winners! Sandy and Larry have been advocating for people who have experienced stroke and their families for more than 30 years

[HULC CRL @HULC_CRL]

🎉We are thrilled to celebrate Dr. @joymacdermid 's achievement in receiving the Order of Ontario!🏅Her contributions to health and rehabilitation inspire us all. Join us in congratulating Dr. @joymacdermid on this well-deserved honor!👏 @westernuSPT @VPRWesternU @westernuFHS

[Nick Gray @nickgraynews]

I'm going to tell you a story about making a new friend

She's next to me now and I’m writing these notes in a yoga class

Here is what it feels like to make a fast friend:

The closeness comes quick

You talk, you play, you laugh, you share little glances of understanding

You feel like you're both on the same wavelength

You have an unspoken understanding

It feels like a cheat code

Do you know what I mean?

Have you ever had this with someone new?

You jump around topics and the eye contact is solid

You interrupt each other and tell stories and jokes

Congratulations you are now in the New Friend Bubble

It feels so good and it feels like home

It is rare by the way but I want you to know it can happen

I think about my friends like Sameer, Codie, Hailee, Neville, Tynan, Mallory, Nina, Zach, Derek, Michael, and a dozen others

And how I'm warm in my heart to meet a new fast friend here in a faraway land

//

This is Alicia and she lives in Bangalore, India

She's a famous artist and illustrator

She's also an excellent yapper and chatter

Our mutual friend Derek Sivers introduced us

Now she and I are fast friends

First we met for coffee then I have joined her for yoga

She invites me to pick up her son from school and we’ll visit her home and her husband

In the car I ask her about why we’ve become these new fast friends

"It takes two," she says, "and some people invite it. Plus chattiness helps and you’re good at that."

I wonder if this can be learned

Can you can teach someone how to chat and to yap?

Asking questions is important but you can’t ask too many

You have to tell your own stories and not make it an interview

The gift of gab comes with practice

Alicia is an introvert and she loves 1-on-1 conversations

“I hate parties,” she tells me, “I could never do what you do.”

But I hate most parties, too, and that’s why I wrote my book

We are in a bubble now. She and I have talked for hours

//

The next day we meet and I’m still thinking about this

I ask her: What makes someone special and pure and like you want to see them again?

“I like people who are strange and people who are different. That’s how we learn and grow to get new perspectives.”

Alicia is always smiling

She has a tiny turquoise stud on her nose

I push her to tell me more about friendship because I want something to write about

She tells me about a best friend that she she doesn’t get to meet as often

“You have kids and then for some people everything changes. I thought I knew about life but this one I never predicted.”

They both got married, had kids, COVID, a new job, a new part of town

The best friend just sort of regressed to an acquaintance

It wasn’t planned or malicious - it was just circumstance

The thing that she misses most is not knowing how she’s doing

“I give her that grace when I reach out and I don’t need her to reply. We’re just not friends anymore. But I do wonder how she’s doing.”

I ask Alicia if it is like a breakup and if she misses her now

“No,” she tells me. “I missed her but I didn’t feel a hole in my life… it is not like with a lover where that is your heart and soul.”

I’ve had my own losses and feeling like someone I could love is slipping away

“What I miss is that we had this thing,” she tells me. “We had this ritual of yoga and dosa and gossip. It was set in our schedule almost every week. I craved it like no other. That meeting with her was a star on my timeline.”

We sit in silence and I think to myself and I’m sad for those transitions

But Alicia is always smiling

“That’s change and it’s fine! I still love her as a person and the new life she’s made. Our lives don’t intertwine like they used to. But she’s still a phone call away.”

//

So that is making a new friend and losing a bestie

Both are experiences of the human condition

I tell Alicia something I once heard

You can be friends with someone for a reason, a season, or a lifetime

We know that not all friendships have to last forever

Some are single-serving and they can light up your life

Fast friends are priceless and they feel so good

And then some can get so deep that their inevitable loss might make you sad

The lesson I hope to share is to look for the fire and to lean in when you can

And then to be thankful for the good times when life moves on

[Catherine George @Cath_mg]

@mak_susanne Congratulations :) :)

[Family Medicine @westernuFamMed]

Are you a Fam Med grad of an ON med school residency program in the last 5 yrs? Are you practicing Comprehensive/Focused practice? What led you to make your decision? @WesternUFamMed researchers want to hear your perspective. Contact [email protected] to participate.

[Catherine George @Cath_mg]

Thanks The Local Train for spending 121 minutes with me in 2022. I couldn’t stop listening to Dil Mere. #SpotifyWrapped https://t.co/sG8XTZrXqD

[Catherine George @Cath_mg]

@jackiedao_ @aliki_thomas @Nancy2Mayo @KeikoShikako @McGillRehab Congratulations Jackie!

[Eric Nkansah Opoku @OpokuNkansah]

The #WFOT2022 students’ forum panel discussion on Professional Identity (PI) Development (PID) was a very informative session. It aimed to let students see how their PID begins as students and how it continues even after graduation:

Key messages are below: (NB: A thread)

[Catherine George @Cath_mg]

@McGill_VPRI @aliki_thomas @McGillMed Congratulations Dr Aliki😀😀😀

[Catherine George @Cath_mg]

@scpticastrodame @TheSuiWay @OpenAcademics Your house is so beautiful! My dream house too @TheSuiWay

[Catherine George @Cath_mg]

@chsto8 @ChaireSMUS Happy birthday Dr @chsto8 😀

[Catherine George @Cath_mg]

@jackiedao_ @aliki_thomas @LaurenMaggio @MarcoZaccagnin2 @KeikoShikako @jillyb3 Congratulations 😀 🎊

[Aliki Thomas @aliki_thomas]

Big reveal……the ⁦@KEEPlab⁩ has a new logo! Well ok….our first ever logo! Twitter world, colleagues and friends: this is the new face of the Knowledge Exchange and Education in the health Professions lab logo ⁦@ResearchInRehab⁩ ⁦@crirmtl⁩ ⁦@IHSE_McGill⁩