We all (Lyle, returned last week, Andy, Nate, Camilla, and I) had a great, delicious, fun dinner at The Cellar downtown last night, and then today we headed down to Richmond to drop her off (minus Lyle, which was good, as we had only. just. enough. room):
That was the trunk, with her backpack squished down the side, and then we had two big carry-ons (one that Pella will take with him as she'll be seeing him in two weeks) in between us in the back seat. Not an inch to spare!
It's a quiet night at home now, as we adjust to having a space where that lively, laughing girl used to be. She was out a lot, very involved with all kinds of things, but she'd truly become like a member of the family, someone who's supposed to be there, and it makes me/us sad to not have her here anymore. She said in her final letter than she wished she could stay longer, and though I surely need some downtime to address things like the disaster our house is and such the like, I could easily have had her around for another month or so! But regrets are pointless: we have a strong tie to a great young woman, and I hope we stay in touch. At the moment we are planning a Denmark/Norway trip next summer. We'll see what unfolds.
The upshot of this adventure is that risk taking is beneficial! Adjusting and flexing and sometimes lying away fretting all end up becoming love, new bonds, and even more adventures yet to come. AFS: yes!
And here are our two Start-Visit and End-Visit Shots:
No comments:
Post a Comment