Leaving Lucy

So I was originally going to write a post with the same title about one of the children I've worked with...however I decided that was probably not a good idea due to confidentiality and such...by the way I've never had a student named Lucy so good luck figuring it out...

I decided to turn it into an OH MY GOSH I HAVE BEEN DOING A LOT OF LEAVING LATELY post.

like is this normal? I suppose it is...I am at that point in my life where everything...seriously everything is a whirlwind...

I graduated college in December...and I left a lot of friends behind, I left a comfortable little community behind, I left the place where I did a lot of growing up behind...that was hard and rewarding at the same time....

Then I went home to live with my mom and family and look for work...I found a job...and then I was given a much better opportunity for the following school year...

So when the time came, I quit my job at home...it wasn't the best job, but I liked working with kids, and as it turns out some of the people I worked with actually enjoyed my company, and I theirs. Some of these people may have become my friends if I stayed there longer. But I left them...it is weird I expected to be all excited to leave a part time job...and don't get me wrong I was very excited...I MEAN I HAVE A DEGREE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD I should be making more than minimum wage...what I didn't expect to feel was that I was going to miss the people. I didn't work there for very long, and I feel bad leaving the kids just as they were getting used to me, but I didn't expect my co-workers to miss me. I didn't really even expect to get good-bye's from any of them...and I was touched when I did.

I went back to campus for graduation commencement...I paid...er well lots of generous people paid for me to go to that school for four and a half years...you better believe I walked across that stage to shake the president's hand and to look pretty dang smart doing so! I went back for almost all of grad week...I only missed one event...I spent a lot of time with my friends and went on a few adventures...and then I once again had to leave them all...Some of them I may never see again, some I'll see at weddings or other big events, but who knows which friends I will or wont see? I don't...good-byes are hard...they stink...I wish you the best in life and all the happiness in the world and I hope we are still friends in the future? I just don't think there is a good way to say goodbye.

And now, I am following that great opportunity...which requires that I move from the Northity North to the Southity South of this country...it is scary...unbelievably scary...will my body be able to handle the climate change? will I be able to afford a bed? will I find an apartment? friends? a church community?

I am leaving once again, people that I love. I am leaving my family, and those friends that I've worked hard to maintain friendships with up here throughout my college years...I am leaving my youth group, I am leaving the churches that I've been involved with. The place where I was baptized, the place where I made my other sacraments, the place where I was a member of the youth group...and the place where I found the first regular confessor I've ever had...I am leaving the house I grew up in, I am leaving the bubble area that my dad's side of the family lives within...I will be one of THOSE relatives who doesn't live within driving distance...

So here I go, on to adulthood...This is real life, it is happening soon. I am leaving...again...this time for good...It is a strange feeling...excitement, mixed with fear, mixed with nostalgia, mixed with so many other emotions...life is forever moving, and I am learning to move with it...so here's to arriving, for starting new, and growing up, and here's to all those who have been a part of my journey!