2 August

Time to leave. I woke up ready to go. I had said so many goodbyes, cried so many tears and hugged so many people. The time for which I had prepared was here and I was ready to walk forward. Mr. Jim, Ashley and Cristina took me to the airport.


Saying goodbye


My Dominican parents. Thank you, Mama T and Mr. Jim, for all that you have done for me.


Ashley also said goodbye to them, as she was leaving the following week from Puerto Plata.

I checked in my bags and made it up to the terminal (the one terminal, that's all STI has). Kendall has given me something that read when I had left and I decided to read it in the terminal. It was notes and letters written to me from all of my friends on the north shore. Seriously, she and Ashley must have worked so hard to get that many people to write me something. It was utterly special and sweet and such an amazing gift. Kendall, thank you. Ashley, thank you. For everything.

I sat in the terminal and read such sweet notes from all my friends. It was a perfect closing to my time there. It was wrapped up with such an outpouring of love. Of course I cried through them all and felt so showered with love. I got on the plane and left the country that I had called home for 3 years. As Anne described it, I was in "no-man's land". I did not yet live in American. I did not anymore live in the DR. I was in the middle. For 2 hours, I was nothing and had nothing. I sat with Jesus, read my Bible and prayed. It was a sweet goodbye to one life and hello to another.