When you're in the good ol' days...

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My friend sent me a video with some quotes from The Office today since she knows that it is my all-time favorite TV show. One of the quotes is from the last episode when Andy says, "I wish there was a way to know that you're in the good old days before you actually left them." 

I know I'm in them right now. As I type these words, I am sitting in my recliner with a dog curled up on top of me. She is not a lap dog, mind you--she is a year-old labrador retriever who I've had the privilege of training over the last several months. I adore her, and in a few weeks, I won't be seeing her anymore. This is one of those moments where I wish I could pause time. (Also, I typed that she started having a dream and started twitching, which I always find hilarious--it's even funnier if they wag their tails or bark in their sleep, ha!)

I am graduating in 18 days. It is currently 1:00 AM. I don't have time to be writing this, but I am a writer and I have to write when the words come. It's important. And unfortunately, the words often come at 1:00 and 2:00 AM, a curse of the creative brain! Ah, well. 

So, let's get back to the point here--Lizzie and I (that's the dog on top of me) were invited to Easter dinner today at some friends' house. It was so kind of them to think of me. I am always so happy to have a place to go on holidays when I'm far away from family. When I have my own home in the next couple of years (even by next year) I hope to have this kind of hospitality top of mind for people who may not have family or community nearby! Anyway, it was just the loveliest evening at their home--they have been some of my California family during the last year and have really taken me in. 

The sad thing though, is that now I am leaving. So it goes! Haley's Comet moves along, as I have done for the past few years. But I told Meg today how God has always provided these wonderful people like herself and her husband to love and care for me, for me to get to know no matter how short a time I was in a place. It's been both beautiful and really challenging. Goodbyes are always tough. And Meg said, "You know, even if we don't get to say goodbye before you graduate and move, I know we'll see each other again in heaven, and then we can talk all we want there!" 

This is something my mom and her friend Priscilla joke about, too. They say when they get to heaven they'll finally be able to finish their conversation (if you know my mom, you understand why this is funny...and if you know me, then you know where I get my talkative nature from!). We laugh about this a lot. But I also really feel it as I am saying a lot of goodbyes and see-ya-laters. It is a very bittersweet time for me. 

I know these are the good old days. I am living in some of them now. Before now, there were six other periods in my life that I was in the good old days--and I think I kind of knew it at the time.

First was my youth group. Just them, and the things we did together, which are too many to count...I could write an entire book about them and our memories. 

The second was my senior year of high school. Pretty much the whole thing was amazing. 

Third, working at summer camp the summer I met my best friend--we knew it then. 

Fifth--my drama group in college, Seekers. There are some complicated memories with Seekers because we went through a lot of pain together. But those were my people, my chosen family in my first go-round of college. I'd do anything for those weirdos. 

Six: when I was in treatment and bonding with my fellow patients. That one is hard to explain but the people who were there get it. I'll get into this one some more in my memoir, in the ways in which I can that are my story at least. I'm not going to tell others' stories. But, when you bond at rock bottom you find common ground that is like none other--even if you never see one another again. That is the bond I forged with those people. So even though we bonded over pain, we were in some "good old days," and found hope together. 

Lastly, is right now. This is my grand number seven: these two years at Bergin. I have found sweet friends, good people, and too many good dogs to name. I have learned so much that I'll take with me. It hasn't been easy by any stretch of the imagination--I've cried more tears than I could have dreamed I would. But right now, I'm trying to soak this sweetness up like a little sponge. So I'm writing it all down as much as I can. I'm taking pictures. I'm blogging. I'm sitting still every time the dog lays on me. 

She got up a few minutes ago, and my laundry just finished drying...so that means it's time for bed. 

Until next time...

Sincerely,

Haley


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