Thursday, January 29, 2009

See you Later

Well it has finally come down to it. I leave for Philadelphia on Wednesday at 5pm where i will see a few historical sites the next morning and attend a peace corps meeting in the afternoon. The day after that I will go to JFK International where i will board a plane bound for johannesburg and then Malawi. I will stay for a bit it Lilongwe and then be moved to dedza and the college of wildlife and forestry there were we will continue with training for several more weeks.

As such i have to wonder here what to say to you...you that have given me some bit of yourself. That gift of the time we shared together. Know that those memories will serve as my touch stone, my happiness and have and will give me the strength to be some 10,000 miles from you. I will keep you with me and remember you often. Know that you have made me realize that relationships are the most important in life and anytime that i have spent building those is time i would never wish i had spent another way.

The hardest part of leaving seems to be this last bit of time right before I leave where 'see you laters' feel like goodbyes and uncertainty is most present in my mind. On the other hand the best part is as Terry Tempest Williams said, "The gift of travel, where everything is infused with meaning, compressed, so you begin to see the golden strand that weaves life together. You are in a constant state of awe." Not to mention the wave of support unbidden that you have sent me in my phase of what seems like constant transition; it has indescribably helped to fortify my inner-self. Thank you, thank you, thank you and know that i love you all.