8:25 pm, Sea Tac Airport Gate A9
The sun is setting on this our last day in WA for awhile. The past months have been rich and full, and now we are ready for Colombia!
It is probably impossible to put into words what our two years at Holden meant for me. In fact, I still don’t know. What I do know is how it felt to leave. We left our community, our “family”, our new pattern of daily work and play and prayer, and we left the mountains, which we love so much.
One of the ways I process changes and seasons is by making playlists to capture my feelings and energy. I made a somewhat erratic playlist during our goodbyes and the transition from Holden and the title track was “Hello, Goodbye,” recorded by the Beatles. Other tracks (just to give you an idea…) included:
Change of Time, by Josh Ritter
Hoy Me Voy, by Juanes
Bye, Bye, Bye, by *N’Sync
Thank You, by Alanis Morisette
The Parting Glass, recording by The Wailin’ Jennys
Be Good To Yourself, by Journey
The Way It Is, by Bruce Hornsby
You can see that it was all over the map. Just like my emotions. Our last months at Holden were full of good gifts. Many friends returned for visits who had been an important part of our time at Holden, including Alisha Nelson, our “daughter” who boarded at Holden and graduated from Holden High School in 2011, and her mom and twin brother. My Grandma Ten Kley and Grandma Bajema visited with my dad during our last weekend at Holden. And even as we said goodbye, we knew we’d be saying hello again.
We made our home in Mount Vernon, WA for about four weeks after we left Holden. We lived in an big, old farmhouse out on the Skagit flats, surrounded by fields of corn, raspberries and pasture. It was a great place to spread out our belongings and sort them into “Colombia” or “storage” piles.
Although we were based in Mount Vernon, we spent a lot of time in other NW Washington places as- Brennan took a professional development class in Bellevue, and we spent a few days on Lake Samish in Bellingham with the Van Loo’s. Soon wedding bells were ringing for Brett and Lindie up in Lynden and we were able to spend some quality time with the Bajema’s during wedding week. A couple days later we took a kayaking trip with dear Skagit friends on Ross Lake. We also explored Port Townsend with beloved Holden friends just past weekend. Then we made a final trip up to Lynden to say goodbye to our families there. Monday we packed, and had a lovely send-off dinner with friends in Mount Vernon. Today we finished packing and put the farmhouse back into working order after our piles had been moved into storage or into the 4-Runner that would take us to the airport. Now here we are. I don’t know why you say goodbye. I say hello.
I wouldn’t describe the past month as relaxing. Living in the middle of a transition between Holden Village and Barranquilla, Colombia, has been strange, exciting and overwhelming. But it has been rich, full, and fun. We have been blessed with family and friends who love us and support us, and all of our experiences this summer in the Northwest affirmed us as we head into the unknown. To those of you who have journeyed with us: THANK YOU. We love you and look forward to sharing our new adventures with you, whether in spirit or here in Colombia (we have guest rooms in our apartment!).
Hello, Goodbye.
Peace,
Tara
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