A teary morning

Takayo left this morning. We were the first to arrive at the church (have I ever been early/first for anything?? I think not) and Takayo's suitcase was packed tight and her carry-ons all legal. Whew! Everything was going well until it was time to load up the bus. That's when the tears came........

At the farewell party Friday night each student read a letter they had written to their host family. Most of the girls cried while reading theirs, but Takayo was very strong and didn't cry. I have to admit, that it made me wonder if maybe her time here wasn't as special to her as it was for her classmates. Guess I was wrong. As we started heading to the bus Takayo started crying and crying. There were so many hugs between us all and so many loving words. Emma was pretty stoic for a while, but as soon as the bus pulled away her tears started to fall. And they haven't stopped yet. Audrey is sad too, but in a different way. Emma and Takayo had a great relationship and played a lot around here. They were getting much better at communicating with one another too. It was wonderful to see them both grow in that area.

Takayo and Emma weren't the only ones crying. Yep, yours truly shed some tears too. I hugged Ayako and Ran too, a couple of the girls we got to know a bit better than the others. Ayako and Takayo became very close friends so she spent a little more time with us. And Ran's host family and ours carpooled, so we got to know Ran as well.

I smell a delicious breakfast being cooked by Justin so I will stop for now. I can't believe I'm up so early.....

Why can't we get all the people together in the world that we really like and then just stay together? I guess that wouldn't work. Someone would leave. Someone always leaves. Then we would have to say good-bye. I hate good-byes. I know what I need. I need more hellos. ~Charles M. Schulz