Sunday Morning ~ Boston

December 23, 2018

Hi Everyone,

I just dropped George at the airport and am back in the hotel a mile away. It’s the time of year when loved ones are coming home, but a particular one of mine is boarding a plane heading in the opposite direction. His flight left early and we didn’t want to spend our last night together worrying about having to wake in the middle of it (hard in the summer, cruel in the winter) to get there in time. So we got a hotel near the airport, slept well, and got there with time to spare. So easy. It seemed a good use of a hundred bucks before twenty four hours in the air. Now I sit and look out the window as the sun comes up and can see planes taking off over three bridges and a windmill in the distance. The foreground consists of rectangular uninteresting buildings, and cars passing on Route 1A. I don’t usually see the city from this angle.

George is setting out on his next adventure to Myanmar. He’ll be teaching at the medical school in Yangon for a year. I could have gone with him. I would have been what’s called a “trailing partner”. I would have had no responsibilities, except to maybe feed him, and could have had the year to do whatever I wanted while he worked. I’m sitting here now wondering what was it about that picture I didn’t want? I didn’t want to be away from home for another year, I didn’t want to be ignored while he worked, I didn’t want to feel stuck in an apartment trying to find something to do, and I didn’t want to feel like I wasn’t doing something meaningful. When the decision was being made, that all seemed very undesirable. Right now I’m wondering would it really have been so bad? I’m proud of him for doing this and will be excited to visit when he gets his schedule figured out. I’ve never been to Asia and this will be an incredible opportunity. But I hope to return to Malawi to work on the model ward for some weeks in 2019. I put my heart and soul into that, believe in it completely, and don’t want to abandon it for a year. January 3rd I should know if that gets approved. In the meantime, I’m loving being back in my house, loving having kids home for visits, loving my community, and loving hearing from old friends. I’m not fretting about getting my cards out before Christmas. I’m loving making them and want to be undisturbed while writing to friends in my cozy room by the fire. I’m committing to low stress holidays.

It’s still early, but in a bit, I’ll drive to Dorchester and hopefully find my friend Jack saying mass there. It’s such luxury to have an unstructured day in the city. Later, I’ll collect my son in Portland and we’ll go to the Botanical Garden in Boothbay to see the Garden’s Aglow exhibit on our way back to Bar Harbor. Tomorrow we’ll cut a tree and decorate it, and not worry about any presents underneath. We’ve got all we need.

Merry Christmas Everyone. Peace to You,

and love to all,

Linda