a trio of goodbyes

*sigh*

I just finished reading a very good book. It was the book I've mentioned, "Clara and Mr. Tiffany; a novel". At least in my taste of fiction; it ranks high up there. And, as many readers know, it's always sad and difficult to say goodbye to characters when you're that into a book.

Of course it was a completely different sigh of relief when I finished Anna Karenina.

There's another sigh of goodbye today. We said goodbye to Rosie. My steel blue 2011 Fusion. She got inspected this morning and we dropped her off at noon. I had no idea I would have this difficult of a time saying goodbye to a car.

I would say that Bill made me this way, but he didn't. He does appropriately describe my behavior as, "You feel too much".

So true.

The last goodbye was to our cousin Mark and his son Zach. They were here visiting while on a midwest college tour. It was sort of a whirlwind visit since they got here Tuesday from I.U., spent yesterday checking out U of M and headed off today to visit State.

Of course we made it to Jersey Junction. We wouldn't have missed that opportunity.

But that was pretty much all we had time for.

I guess it's time to go make dinner. Before I feel too sorry for myself.

ps: we didn't have internet yesterday, so that's why I didn't blog.

the preacher's daughter

Lexie came into my life when we moved back to Grand Rapids. Our first Sunday in church was the Sunday Jennie (her mom) was given the "United Methodist" gifts. It was Jennie's first "official" Sunday. They too had just moved here. I met Lexie in January of 2007, when I volunteered with Heather and the Jr. High youth group. Lexie was outgoing, had a great laugh and an even better sense of humor (she still has all of those qualities, spoiler alert: she's not dead, she just moving. Hang on, I'll get there).

I continued to volunteer with Heather (read about her by clicking her name or here) and the Jr. High youth group and took my first U.P. trip with them in the summer of 2007. Photos from that trip are all on our Mac hard drive and thus are currently inaccessible.

However, I can access photos from fall of 2007, when I began volunteering full time with the Jr. High.

Heather held a youth group "HO-down" (because her initials are H.O. and we didn't let opportunities to use them pass). We were encouraged to wear our cowboy best. Bandanas were passed out and there is even a video of line dancing. The story was the Prodigal Son, and we broke it down into many parts. This was the week the son was forced to eat with the pigs. Hence the Ho-down. Or something. It was fun, as you can see.

Lexie came riding in on her horse...

Fun times!



Then in the summer or '08, we took what would be our last trip to the U.P. with Heather.

Here are some crazy photos (of Lexie) from that trip:

Lindsay and Lexie, I think they'd just had a romantic moment running down the beach. This was the shore of Lake Superior on our way back.

This is Lexie on our bike ride around Mackinac Island.

They move today to their new home in East Lansing. Jennie will be the Senior Pastor at University Church and Lexie will finish high school in a new school there (the new school mascot is the Trojan, pretty exciting for a double P.K. = preacher's kid).

Thanks Lexie, for the memories. I've laughed harder knowing you. And just because you move doesn't mean we love you any less, or that you can't keep in touch. It's not good-bye, it's see you soon.

And yes. You can come back and watch "Four Weddings and a Funeral".

on saying goodbye

As a product of the United Methodist Church, I gave myself a pep talk this morning that sounded something like this: "You have seen many pastors move on. You will not cry when Jennie leaves because you will see her again. She's not moving to Mars. It's not like the end of your senior year of high school and the foreign exchange students whom you became close friends are going back home and you don't know when (if ever) you will see them again. Chances are you'll see Jennie next year at Annual Conference. This is not a sad day, you won't cry."

Then came her sermon on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit and graduation speeches. It's not about you, as the individual. It's about the journey you take and who you become on that journey. It was toward the end of the sermon that my tears fell; after biting my lip and staring intently at the stained glass window, which had worked up until the end. And then I could no longer help myself. I wasn't crying because she was leaving, I was crying because her message hit home. I know who I am because of the journey I have taken. I have trusted God, and tried to listen to His voice. I have gone places I never thought I would go (New Jersey) and have turned out... no. Am still becoming the woman I am meant to be. Because each day I learn something new. Because I have friends who love me. Because I try new things. Because I try. Because I fail and I learn from my mistakes and I try again.

It's not especially easy for someone to say good bye. I prefer something like, see you later. I've not had too difficult a time moving on because of all the moving I have done. It still doesn't make it easy, but hopefully, someday, I'll get to see you again. Never say never. We made it back to Savannah!

So go ahead and make mistakes. Take the road less traveled and make a difference. It's not about finding yourself, it's about finding who you are as you change the world. And don't ever say good bye.

Goodbye my furry friend

Tuesday, July 3rd, Mom and Dad took Tails to the vet. He is in a better place now. He's no longer in pain.

I got Tails from Shawn Scott in 10th grade. I remember it because we had Chemistry and he was talking about how his cat just had kittens and he threw her over his garage (apparently she wasn't hurt too badly, maybe he didn't even do it). I was shocked! I must have asked if he was giving the kittens away because one evening he came over with this little orange kitten. Mom said yes, Dad said no. But we took him anyways. Then we found out he had fleas. One day his fur just exploded. He wasn't abnormally furry one day, then the next day his tail poofed out, and he was full of long fur (think Himalayan). We had this duster that looked like his tail. I told Amanda that it was his tail. She believed me!

I named him Tails, after the Sonic the Hedgehog character. Our other cat, Mykah looked a little like Sonic, and I had hoped that Tails would follow him around like the characters in the game. It didn't happen, but Tails did turn out looking a lot like his name sake.

For the rest of my years in high school, Tails would follow me around. When I would get ready for bed, he would sit outside the bathroom door and wait for me. Then he would run into my bedroom and sit on my bed.

I think it was back in March when Bill and I were visiting Mom and Dad for their anniversary when we noticed the big lump on Tails' back, near his tail. We all agreed that instead of treating it, he should be put down IF it started to bother him. At that time, it didn't seem to bother him. Well, on Friday, Mom said he licked it so much that it opened up and had started bleeding. The best thing for him was to put him down.

I didn't get a chance to say good bye. He always knew when I was coming to visit. The week before I'd come back, he would sit outside my old bedroom door and meow, like he was waiting for me. He went through a lot with me during my high school and college years. For awhile Bill and I had talked about bringing him to live with us, but Mom said their other cat would get lonely without Tails. (Mykah was put down now that long ago either).

This is my good bye to my furry friend. I'm going to miss him when I go visit Mom and Dad.

I love you Tails!