Dear Anya

[OblivionWalker 398]

Dear Anya,

 

I can't believe you're going to be graduating from nursing school soon! It feels like you just started but I'm very proud of you and everything that you've been able to accomplish while you were there. Graduating at the top of your class is impressive and no matter how much you try and shrug it off, it's the truth. Give yourself a little credit, Anoushka. You've been working so hard, and you deserve every honor that's coming your way.

 

The Bears are in the playoffs! We managed to come in second in our conference and I'm reasonably hopeful of our chances. It's a real change for me from last year, given where Warsaw was and it's a chance that we'll have to try and do our best to take with both hands (or paws, rather, since bears don't have hands).

 

I think I can be reasonably pleased with how this season went for me. I didn't make it onto any kind of leaderboards but given where I was last season and how much my plus/minus went up this season alone, I feel like I'm at least on the right path and hopefully next season, regardless of how these playoffs go, I can continue to build on it. I do feel a little pressure to do well, given what Seattle traded to get me, but it definitely feels like the right place for me to have ended up and I'm always going to be grateful to my former general manager for being honest with me about the potential trajectory of the team and not wanting to have a good half of my career not go anywhere. It couldn't have been an easy decision to make but I do feel like he truly had my best interests at heart, and I could never be anything but thankful for that care and concern. You'll never catch me saying a bad word about Warsaw or the management. Just seemed like the timing was slightly off but who knows? Maybe I circle back before I retire and see what I can do.

 

I think this off-season, I'm just going to take a break and go home, see you and mom and dad and everyone else. Especially with Baba having that little health scare, I just feel like it's more important for me to focus on home, on family rather than being in any tournaments or anything. Plus, I'm honestly just tired. The VHL is another level, and I think giving myself some time to refuel and recharge is going to be a good thing.

 

I'm not sure why, but it feels like something is going to change. I can't say what's put that into my mind, but it's there all the same. Maybe I'm just picking up on energy around me too, but it's difficult to say for certain. All I can do though is try my best in whatever situations I may find myself in. I can't control everything, and I've learned that it's better to not even try.

 

Take care of yourself, remember to eat and drink (yes, Sergiy told me about you skipping lunch last week to study for your finals) and please give Baba an extra big hug from me.

 

Yours from the playoffs,
Slava

 

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