I woke up extra early this morning to the rustling sounds of Savannah
getting ready for the last service at the Tamil church. I
heard the usual "getting ready" noises with a few extra tossed in - the
zipping of suitcases & clearance of items from the bathroom as it
was her last time to use the luxurious Leela super-huge bathroom. I
dozed back off after she left, but have since gone down to enjoy a nice
decaf cappuccino and fresh eggs at the beautiful breakfast buffet. As I
sat and waited on the faux caffeine, I began to think about this being
our last day in India together and I got a little teary-eyed. Although
most of our time was not spent at five star properties like the Leela Palace,
we did enjoy our two years here in Chennai. We used the opportunity to
grow our mother/daughter relationship. We traveled together. We got on
each other's nerves. We encouraged each other. We laughed together. We
cried together. We learned beautiful things about a new culture. We learned beautiful things about ourselves and each other. We
witnessed racism, and we felt it firsthand for the first time in our
lives. We fought battles, big and small. We spent time in an Indian hospital and faced separate health issues. We made friendships on the
basis of being American in India - and we know these friendships will be
lifelong because there's a special kind of bond that comes from being
away from "home" but connecting with people who share your "home". We found and
fell in love with a new church family. We held a beautiful young girl in
our arms and in our hearts and then laid her to rest. We helped the
other get out of our comfort zones on many occasions. We made memories
to last a lifetime.
I am sure we have done more as a team during this tenure, but any other thoughts escape me at the moment. I will be forever grateful to my girl for joining me on this crazy adventure. As the time comes to leave our Indian home and return back to our native land of the brave, I am overcome with emotion. I have done a pretty good job stuffing it down this week with only a time or two of the tears welling up, but I can tell it won't be that way anymore. The tears welled up at breakfast. Alone. Which means as soon as someone else is around to enunciate the words "today is your last day," they will come without the ability to keep them under control. But not yet.
Our last week included packing our apartment into 62 boxes to be shipped back to Houston. We caught up and had dinners, lunches and coffee or tea with many of our friends and coworkers. We had a special appreciation ceremony for our driver with Maersk and his company's owner. We watched the clock and counted the days, with both anticipation and trepidation. How quickly this week went at times, while other times ticked away ever so slowly. (I could actually say this for the past two years... not just this week!) The roller coaster of emotions tends to do that, I suppose. Speaking of ticking clock, it's about time for me to move from this soft bed and begin my getting ready process for the day. The last day... at least until Safmarine sends me back, which I look forward to, and softens this leaving scenario in my mind and heart. It it much easier to say "see ya later" instead of "goodbye." And with that thought, I will leave you with God's great blessings, hugs, and request for prayers for our safe travels home. We depart, with Dynamo in tow, at 1:50 AM IST, 3:20 PM CST and will land in Texas on Monday around 1:30 PM. Thank you in advance and big love & hugs, once more, from Chennai!
I am sure we have done more as a team during this tenure, but any other thoughts escape me at the moment. I will be forever grateful to my girl for joining me on this crazy adventure. As the time comes to leave our Indian home and return back to our native land of the brave, I am overcome with emotion. I have done a pretty good job stuffing it down this week with only a time or two of the tears welling up, but I can tell it won't be that way anymore. The tears welled up at breakfast. Alone. Which means as soon as someone else is around to enunciate the words "today is your last day," they will come without the ability to keep them under control. But not yet.
Our last week included packing our apartment into 62 boxes to be shipped back to Houston. We caught up and had dinners, lunches and coffee or tea with many of our friends and coworkers. We had a special appreciation ceremony for our driver with Maersk and his company's owner. We watched the clock and counted the days, with both anticipation and trepidation. How quickly this week went at times, while other times ticked away ever so slowly. (I could actually say this for the past two years... not just this week!) The roller coaster of emotions tends to do that, I suppose. Speaking of ticking clock, it's about time for me to move from this soft bed and begin my getting ready process for the day. The last day... at least until Safmarine sends me back, which I look forward to, and softens this leaving scenario in my mind and heart. It it much easier to say "see ya later" instead of "goodbye." And with that thought, I will leave you with God's great blessings, hugs, and request for prayers for our safe travels home. We depart, with Dynamo in tow, at 1:50 AM IST, 3:20 PM CST and will land in Texas on Monday around 1:30 PM. Thank you in advance and big love & hugs, once more, from Chennai!
