What do goodbyes look like for people who have supported each other through changes, losses, wins, beginnings and firsts? For us it was backbreaking hugs, watering eyes, last words of adoration, and then at the end just a small wave and a, “Bye!” As if we were hanging up the phone or moving forward in the grocer line.
Let me rewind, Dan went scuba diving. Dan learned how to swim three days before he passed his scuba test with the group. Dan did it for himself. I remember looking out at the sea and seeing six bodies floating face down in the water, don’t be alarmed, it was Dan and his friends learning together how to float.
Devon and I are lying in a bed on thanksgiving night. The lights are off and we don’t need to talk to feel comfortable. Devon is bravely fighting her sickness. The mosquito net is draped over the fourposter, we can hear the clatter of the street and a mother screaming, “Mohamed!” over and over. We just lie there. Then the group shuffles into our room and places on the bed a thanksgiving feast wrapped in aluminum foil and watch for my response in every bite. Even though I secretly see a spider crawl over my dessert, the turkey is cold, and my potatoes are over buttered. I squish the spider before anyone could see and it is the best Thanksgiving dinner I’ve ever had.
Ian grew his wings. The hardest goodbye was to the one we were leaving behind. With his pack on his back he headed off to find somewhere to stay alone until his flight to somewhere in Africa to do something good, who knows, we were losing him to this continent! It was like leaving a soldier to fight the battle alone. But indeed I do not think he felt that way, he was ready to fly.
Zach wondered through the bending cobblestone streets of stone town beneath the slim rectangle sky, just discovering. When he realized he was lost he asked a local for directions. He returned to us sweaty and desperate for cab money.
Kaan saw a sea turtle and a victim of the sea.
Kirsten found herself.
Kathryn bargained for local wares up until the last day for her loved ones, getting free carved gifts from Obama, and the best scarf deals from the two brothers. And while she described to me the people she was buying for, I would hear a boy behind us yell how she had broken his heart by not saying hello.
Britt and Zik will go on to inspire another group, or just more people.
Love.
