Good Byes
One week ago I woke up really sad, after several days of doing the same. It was the day I was leaving Cochabamba. Brendon and I were showered in blessings, good wishes, good company, and tears all day long. We received a special sending at church from our neighbors, we enjoyed a nice brunch with all our roommates, we had tea with our wonderful sisters, and then it was time to go. A ten year old neighbor played his recorder for us as a good bye song before we began hugging everyone good-bye. I can't describe the difficulty of that moment but perhaps to give you the image of the ten year old that had just played the recorder for us, grabbing me around the waist, hanging on to me with all his strength, and tears flooding down his face. I have to admit they were doing the same on mine.
Time Machine
And now, here we are a week later, in Denver after three days of flights to get here plus my two additional flights to go to Minnesota and back. It has been wonderful to get time with family and friends, no matter how brief. I don't know if you have ever been able to be in a time machine but this is what I imagine it to be like. My body is way ahead of my insides. All week long, in moments of joy and new surroundings, I would find myself also sad, the tears of last Sunday's good byes still lingering. My body is confused by large shiny cars, fast food everywhere, English. I am in a new world, one that is dramatically different than the one I was in before. Somehow, it is familiar, and I feel like it should be comfortable like an old sweatshirt or something, but its not. I look at everything with big eyes, wondering exactly how I got here. Now that I am off the time machine, hopefully it will slow down and I will be able to begin to make sense of the world around me again. I am so so grateful that both ends of the time machine have people that I love so much and one in particular that has traveled and will continue to travel this journey with me.
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