My Last Days

I didn’t journal much in fear that the writing would open the floodgates, pouring out tears. But I’ll try my best to take you to my heart with the highlights.

“Take Me to Your Heart”. It’s an English song. Tanin and Akhom listen to it all the time, which means I listen to it quite a lot as well. It’s super cheesy, and I’d never listen to it on my own, but it’s fun to sing the three lines we know: Standing on a rainy day…/ Listening to my own heart beat / So many people, all around the world…/ Take me to your heart, take me to your soul… / They say nothing lasts forever, we only have today / Love is now or never, take me far away / Take me to your heartttt!!

Somehow, someway, I love this song. As cheesy as it is.

I said my goodbyes to the staff slowly throughout the week. Ahkom, Tanin, and I had a lot of meaningful moments together, and they both wrote me nice letters. In English. On sparkly pink paper. I’ll take a picture and post it on Facebook. Luckily, they told me ahead of time that they spent days working on their letters and that the words are straight from their hearts…So I didn’t laugh when I saw that the stationary said, “Love is make the world go around” and “Polar Bear”. I have a great mom, dad, and sister, but no brother. God has put brother figures in my life to fill that spot, and I am so thankful to have Tanin and Ahkom care about me and love me like a sister. It’s unbelievable.

MY FAREWELL PARTY, as Kay called it, was a celebration of life. I like calling it Don & Kay’s “Welcome Back Party”, since it has happier emotions attached to it. The kids sang many songs, which is typical for any given night. But since this was a welcome night, the kids sang even more songs. And we laughed through pretty much every one. Lalida, Yupin, and Yupa danced to “Above All” dressed in cute dresses. Lalida did the wrong motion at the start of the chorus, which is pretty climactic, and we all just busted out the laughs. My girls wanted to do the dances I taught them, but they didn’t quite remember them. So that made for an interesting six minutes with comic value. They all sang a song in 4-part harmony, except the group of guys knew absolutely none of the words. So they stood there the whole time uncomfortably while I laughed. :)

Several of the kids also stood up to share such nice words for me. I ended up receiving more bracelets (I already had a lot on my wrist and was having a hard time keeping track of who gave what!). But mostly, I received heartfelt words. Some of the kids let those tears flow, and my heart ached. These kids have so much to give.

Tanin & I surprised the kids with a Karen song. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ_d_CvnXiM&feature=channel_page) I saw the astonishment in their eyes as the Karen language hit their ears. And I wanted to cry the whole time, but I desperately wanted to be strong for the kids. I also had words to say for the children. “Never lose your kindness and generosity because you will change so many people’s lives with it…I am going home with a bigger heart because of you…Thank you for loving me…I’ll call you and help you with homework.” Etc etc etc.

At the end of the night, they did a Karen farewell. They all got in a line and shook my hand. But I ended up hugging them all. And I ended up with more bracelets on my wrist. Somsi and Waraporn were last in line. With tears streaming down their faces. We walked to their dorm, and I hung out with the girls for quite awhile. They gave me the oddest gifts and the sweetest notes, and I know they have more use for the gifts than I do, but they wouldn’t take them back. So I will treasure them forever.