Small Packages

I think one of the best things about travelling is also the worst. Travelling leads you to meet so many amazing, wonderful, new people from all over the world, with new and strange ideas and cool senses of humor and different directions in life. In this way, travel is awesome. But, at the end of your conversation, what is there? Perhaps an exchange of emails or facebook names, but this person, these people who you could so easily become fast friends with are gone. Leaving people I suddenly care about and want to know more closely truly breaks my heart.

This is an excerpt from my journal from a few weeks ago when I left the children and volunteers at camp in Chiang Rai. Really though, I think this can be applied to many things. I'm not sure if I have ever mentioned in my blog anything about the two AFS exchange students who I happened to run into a few days before my first day of school... they taught me how to order lunch at the chaotic cafeteria, hugged me when I needed a hug and gave me the advice and encouragement that I needed to be able to realize some things about my own character. My eyes are tearing up while I write this as I remember the day they left... it was almost just like another ordinary day at school except when the final bell rang and we all stood up from our usual seats around the table we could all feel it. This was the last time we would see each other... perhaps forever... or at least, for a very long time. I tried my best not to cry, but of course, I did not succeed. It's now been two months since they left, which seems crazy because looking back, the four months that I knew them was nothing in the scheme of time and life... but I suppose even small things can have a big impact. (Shout out Naomi and Angela, I love you two!) Another example would be English camp, though I stayed with the kids for only two days in my life which is now 6099 days long some of  my most treasured memories were shared with them. I guess my whole point is that sometimes the best presents come in small packages, sometimes seconds can change our lives and sometimes we have to remember to be thankful for what happened rather than sad that it is over.

kearn