I said my first goodbye today. My dear friend, Edith, is on her way back to boarding school. Edith is a ball of energy! She loves to laugh, to sing, and to joke around. Her father married one of my coworkers. And as a result, they moved into the back house of the compound. It took some time to adjust to having an eleven year-old around the house. However, I am so glad she came to stay! Her early Saturday morning wake-up calls, through my bedroom window at 7:30am or her constant singing of high school musical songs brought joy to our home. Her love for pre-teen movies is pretty extensive and I have more than once had to relocate my work for her to watch Hannah Montana, Alvin and the Chipmunks or High School Musical. Oh- I also taught her how to make cut out Christmas cookies- she loved it!
Edith has a tender side as well. She cares about people. She watches and learns and repeats many things. She is able to organize and mobilize the older teenagers in her community very well. I also had the privilege of watching her get baptized this past weekend. I literally cried as this sweet girl professed her faith before her church.
So when January 31, 2011 came to be- it was very difficult to see Edith pack her things in a red suitcase, tenderly place her recent artwork in her backpack, put on her bright blue uniform and get into her father’s van. As I hugged her goodbye, tears strolled down my face. I know that I will see Edith again, and hopefully it will be before she is a Broadway star! However, Edith’s departure means that soon I will be boarding her father’s van with my red suitcase on my way to the airport.
Saying goodbye is so hard. In fact, for me it is so hard that I often times just don't do it.
ReplyDeleteMy friend, Krista and her family will be on the ground as missionaries in Swasiland in 8 days. Today is their last day in Farmington. I purposely avoided their going way party. Don't like all the emotions...too hard.
So I will wait for 2 years until they return on furlough to see her again. That way, it's more of a so long than a good bye, you know?
Can't wait for you to get home so we can get together once again!
Love you,
Laura
Ah Laura, the thing with this goodbye is that there is a real possibility that I won't be coming back. However, I totally get wanting to avoid it!
ReplyDeleteI am very excited to see you again! That is a good reason to come home. :)