As Dali and Sam and I were returning to the states in the fall of 2012, my heart was breaking. I did not want to leave Cadrieu, but Dali needed me to be with her as she aged and so did Mom and Dad. I love this photo of Dali and I above that Evelyn had taken. She posted it on her blog shortly after we departed, writing about the difficulties of hurried good-byes and what a difficult decision it had been for me. I'd struggled all year long trying to find a way that we could stay. It didn't present itself. Looking back, I believe that it didn't present itself for a reason...maybe lots of reasons. Beng stateside again was a struggle for me from the beginning.
Dad had fallen. Mom and Dad moved to assisted living the following February and we lost our Dals that April. Sammie Cat and I did our best to move forward on all fronts.
I wasn't hit hard by my first reason for return aha, until the end of the semester where I was teaching adjunct for the first time at the Tulane School of Social Work. On the last day of class, one of my students handed me a card. Her sentiments blew me away at the time, and I remember thinking: "This is another reason why I've returned." From that point on, I was able to much more easily see the reasons for return as they popped up everywhere.
Students graduate. Students move on. Some of them become colleagues. Some of them become supervisees. And then, there are those who become friends. (I'm very careful to keep those boundaries clear.)
Allegra and I became friends after she graduated. We get together from time to time to catch up on each others lives. This last visit was right around her birthday. She'd already told me that she was on her way to Peru with her brother and his partner. During our last visit I had a little brithday surprise and I asked her if they were going to go to Macchu Picchu? Yes! I told her that it was a dream for me-one of those someday bucket list kind of places.
She asked me what I wanted from Macchu Picchu? I told her: "All I want is a rock from Macchu Picchu." Rocks make me happy. I found out last night that thoughtfulness makes me happy too.
Tucked inside Allegra's birthday travel journal, I'd put a couple of photos I knew she'd wanted. One was of me that was taken during my photo shoot with Larry Graham and the other was one of Sammie Cat in Sepia that I'd done as Mom thanks yous. Last night, at the end of a more grueling day than usual, this was the thoughtful treat (Huge Merci-Allegra) I found on Facebook:
Laury and Sammie Cat made it to Macchu Picchu!
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