This is Dedicated to the Ones I Love...

Never shall I forget the days I spent with you. Continue to be my friend, as you will always find me yours.

~Ludwig van Beethoven

Chris and me at Young Life's Lake Champion in August 1998.

Back in the summer of 1998, I volunteered at a Christian camp in a little town called Glen Spey in New York.  Those of you in Young Life circles may recognize the name of the camp as Lake Champion.  It was an idyllic summer, my first away from home, and I passed my days sleeping in the dorm, answering phones in the office, and mingling with other like-minded folks.  I had just turned nineteen and I had my whole life before me.

I met some truly wonderful folks that summer, bonding with the other college and high school-aged staff who had given up a month of their summer to facilitate the running of this camp so that teenagers could come and hear about who Jesus is.  Of course, we all promised to write and stay in touch, but without social media sites such as Facebook, that proved harder than we thought it would be.  Over the years, I lost touch with every single person that I lived and worked with that summer.

Except one.  I remember the first time I ever talked to Chris-- he was sitting on a bench by the rock-climbing wall.  It was my first day of camp, and I walked over and introduced myself.  As our conversation progressed, I asked him how he had become a Christian, to which he replied, "I'm not."  I was duly shocked, as it was a requirement to work at the camp.  I resolved to pray for him, and over the month, we became friends although I was grouped in with the college-age workers and he was still in high school.

On the last day of camp, I hugged him tightly and said goodbye.  He was heading back to California and I thought I would never see him again.

Years passed; I finished college and moved to New York City.  I had initially kept in touch with Chris, but, in time, that had died down.  Then, one day, I asked the girls in my Bible study to write down their summer addresses for me, and I noticed that one girl lived in the same town as my former friend, Chris.  Of course, I had to ask her if she knew him, and in the craziest coincidence, it turned out that she has dated his younger brother!

Photos taken in the photo booth at Lakeside Lounge.  On the left (circa July 2007) are me, Chris, and his friend, Colin.  We had a hilarious time that night!  The photos on the right are from September 11, 2010.

Chris and I have been in touch since then, although long periods of time go by between emails.  Three times he has been on the east coast, and each time, we make a point to meet up.  He was in New York two weeks ago (en route to South Africa, where he was going to volunteer at an orphanage), and we spent a wonderful day catching up.  Old friends are truly a blessing, and I am so thankful that God has put Chris in my life.

This post is dedicated to all of my friends scattered across the four corners of the earth.  I sincerely hope that we shall meet again.  "Never shall I forget the days I spent with you.  Continue to be my friend, as you will always find me yours."

XOXO,

Heading Home

I leave the land of sand and surf tomorrow morning and head back to the East Coast. It has been a wonderful month filled with new experiences and beautiful new friends and I am loathe to leave. I must stay positive, so I'm making a top 10 list of things I'm looking forward to returning to (in no particular order) that act as my consolation prize.



1. Play my violin. Surprise, surprise. The non-violinist actually misses her instrument and looks forward to squeaking out a few notes on the old fiddle.





2. Eskimo kisses with Siegfried. Siegfried is my Miniature Pinscher. Weighing in at a hefty 20lbs or so, he is less the dragon slayer that he was named after and more a shy, whimpering pup. One of my favorite features, however, is his nose, which isn't much different than others in the species, except that his likes to rub my own when I give the command, "Eskimo."




3. Go in search of the Dead. Being in Los Angeles has meant that I haven't had the time to work on my quest of discovering my roots. While I may never be able to prove if I am indeed related to the infamous James Brothers or the Queen of England for that matter, I am eagerly filling out my family tree on Ancestry.com. I've made it back to the early 1800's on some of the line, but that's barely scraping the surface.

4. Time with the Sis (and other family). There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home. Dorothy was on to something with this oft-repeated mantra: no matter where one goes, or what worlds one see, there's nothing that compares with home. Whether on the spiritual level, or just here in the day to day, both body and soul are only completely at rest when they're at home. And, for me, an integral part of being home is time with Ernst, the Moo, and the Poo.

5. The Greatest City on Earth. Being on that other coast line means that I'm near one of the world's greatest cities: New York City. Even though I like to claim that I'm scarred from my experiences there, you'll find me hunkered down there at least one week a month in the city that never sleeps. And why not? My best friends in the world live there, my favorite church is there, and no matter what, I seem to still be able to get work there.

6. Back to Church Life. While it was fun bouncing around to all the churches that Los Angeles has to offer, there's something to be said about going to a place where everyone knows your name. My church in Delaware, Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Newark, is kind of like that; I've been going there since I was 14, so the people there treat me like I'm part of the family. My other church, Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City, is where I have my membership, and is home to some of the best teachings on the Bible that I've ever heard. Visiting there is like seeing an old friend: I find refuge and comfort and know that I'm loved.


7. Miss Morgana la fey. Much like the character in the Arthurian legend, I am utterly bewitched by my 14 year-old niece, Morgan. She's suddenly cool, and discovering better things (like boys), but I'd like to think that this old aunt still has a place in her life. She's a pet lover, so we like to take the pups to Middle Run Natural Area (where on a recent trip we rescued a raccoon!). She loves movies, MySpace, and photography (especially of herself. Sigh.), and I try to push a bit of books and culture into that teenage brain. All in all, we're a great twosome, even if she does think I'm a big loser:)


8. Back to the Grind. The sewing machine grind that is. It's the hobby that I love to hate. I find it utterly consuming, with me chained to my sewing machine or patternmaking tools for hours at end. And yet, at the end of the day, the devotion is worth it as there is nothing in the world like creating something and being proud of it. I'm into vintage reproductions these days and my latest project has me making a late 1800s inspired military jacket. I'm also quite proud of the vintage-inspired apron that I recently made for a pregnant friend.





9. Catching up with Old Friends. The old rhyme goes, "Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other is gold." I made some amazing new friends in LA, but the ones on this coast have been here for the long haul. They've helped me move, picked up my pieces when I was falling apart, and been a good shoulder to lean on when I needed it. I'm thankful for these guys, and incredibly blessed in my friendships.

10. Back to Work. Believe it or not, I am looking forward to going back to work. Can't imagine why? Well, it means I get to put a little more money in the ol' bank account which means I can continue my travels-- and hopefully visit my new friends again.