[name_f][/name_f]Warning for cancer, infertility, and parent/partner leaving.[name_f][/name_f]
[name_f]Snejana[/name_f] “ [name_f]Neja[/name_f] “ [name_f]Kirsten[/name_f] Collingwood (58) is the course manager at the hospital Clara’s taken her young mom’s course at. As the manager, she organises which courses will be offered and who will run them. Neja’s used to hospitals, having gone to one when she was just 11, having been diagnosed with a bone cancer. Thankfully,[name_f][/name_f] this was a very survivable type that she had, though she never truly liked her odds. She didn’t want to be that odd one out that didn’t survive. [name_f]Neja[/name_f] was fine if [name_f]Vicky[/name_f] didn’t feel like she had her “eldest sibling” role right, [name_f]Neja[/name_f] herself felt she was getting “too much attention” as the middle child, for a reason she didn’t want. Though [name_f]Neja[/name_f] knows now how much she needed to fight for herself, so she’s glad she had it. Nobody underestimated her struggles just because it was “so survivable”. [name_f]Neja[/name_f] has gotten closer with her niece and nephews on Vicky’s side and is closer with her younger sibling, who she used to not know as much growing up. The youngest felt like the “baby” while most of [name_f]Neja[/name_f] and Vicky’s childhoods were spent growing up together. But now they’re on close bonds together.
[name_f][/name_f][name_f]Neja[/name_f] herself was close with [name_f]Clara[/name_f], seeing her and [name_f]Erin[/name_f] as surrogate nieces. [name_f]Neja[/name_f] herself was a single mother much like [name_f]Clara[/name_f] is becoming, so she finds a bittersweet connection. [name_f]Neja[/name_f] in a sense knows she drove her partner away with how much she wanted a child, despite neither of them planning it. They weren’t prepared and she tried to get him on board with doing so, but he was turned off by her. Sometimes [name_f]Neja[/name_f] admits she’s an awkward partner to have, something literally all her exes would agree on. But in Neja’s point of view, she didn’t actually think she’d get pregnant and feared her past cancer battle would have ended that for her,[name_f][/name_f] so she was serious about wanting to keep her baby, even if she only had one. She has been more comforting to [name_m]Gunter[/name_m] for his own infertility struggles[name_f][/name_f], knowing that his siblings are aware of this but he doesn’t want this controlling his life. Neja’s aware she’s not going to be a grandmother, since her only child is childfree, but she respects this decision wholeheartedly and still enjoys the prospect of new relatives while being kind to those without children.
[name_f][/name_f][name_f]Neja[/name_f] is supportive of those who have different perspectives on bringing life. She’s recently launched a new course, a follow-up to the course that [name_f]Clara[/name_f] and [name_f]Erin[/name_f] are taking, for mothers who have since given birth. There isn’t a prerequisite required, so mothers who weren’t in the prior course can still take this course. [name_f]Neja[/name_f] is aware conversations regarding money are a hot topic, especially when she’s heard from Clara’s sister that she isn’t having children: not because she’s childfree or struggling to conceive, but because she just doesn’t have the funds. [name_f]Neja[/name_f] feels for that, and wants the [name_m]Thompson[/name_m] sisters to feel much better about their circumstances. She doesn’t want to overstep boundaries however, especially since she’s not the one running either course, just the manager presiding over all the courses. Recently a new woman has enrolled, [name_f]Julie[/name_f] Massingdale, who was engaged to a despicable and toxic individual, but wants to find everything entering her life to be happy. [name_f]Neja[/name_f] doesn’t know if [name_f]Julie[/name_f] is still engaged, though she’s grateful the two aren’t married, or rushing into getting married. [name_f]Neja[/name_f] herself is glad she’s not married, but she loves [name_f]Erin[/name_f] as a wife for her nephew, since [name_f]Erin[/name_f] is a smart and kind person in the family’s eyes.
[name_f][/name_f]Julie[name_f][/name_f] was created by @kitkatcookie[name_f][/name_f].