Oh Darling

     My last post told a little fairy tale about a (generally) wintertime holiday. This little fairy tale takes some multicultural cues, and is going on right now...

     I'm pretty much bedbound right now. It's junky. I pulled a muscle or something else super crappy packing yesterday, and I have to testify in court by phone today. Everyone cheer for a little subpoena. It hasn't really been a great couple of days what with leaving my job, preparing to leave my family, and preparing testimony that could change the course of some people's life. I don't like most of these things and find myself feeling irritable and easily upset simply because of the stressors. It's like a bonus period week!
     Some of you may not have heard yet, so I'll explain. Somewhat recently Chris and I have decided to move our life together to the lovely state of Georgia. Many things have gone into this decision, but I think it really boils down to the simple fact that for years we have been close to my family, Chris has spent his time being supportive while I finished my schooling and started a career, and now it's my turn to be the support. It's time that we get to spend time with his family and that I get to know them better. We will all be part of the same family some day soon, and it's time to act that way.
     I've left my job on good terms. They have been supportive and caring and if I would like to go back it will be an option. I put in a lot of work to be finished appropriately and one of the last things I had to do was testify for a court case that landed in my lap. My coworkers were mega sweet and got me an amazingly delicious cake. I seriously almost cried.
      Now I'm done with work and all of that, just packing and getting ready to go. Chris will be here Saturday to help me get all of my things and the animals there. I don't like living among boxes but it has to be done. Yesterday at some point (most likely when I lifted a box of books to stack up) I pulled something in my back and now it's incredibly painful and really really inconvenient when it comes to timing!
      No matter what it is that's going on it will be over(ish) soon. Chris Charming will be here to whisk me away on Saturday, and our life will move to Georgia. We'll do our best to make it work there and we'll do our best to be happy.

“The scariest thing about distance is that you don’t know whether they’ll miss you or forget you.” Thanks Nicolas Sparks. Chris and I pass this one every time. Every time We're apart we miss each other more than anything else. We fight, we debate about important and not so important things, he makes me laugh and I try to do the same. That man can probably make me do anything he'd like because I love him so very much. 

A Little Fairy Tale

     Once upon a time there was a group of people that came together due to a mutual interest in helping people. They came from different places, most hours and hours away, to engage in a program and learn more than they had before so that they could pursue careers that they anticipated loving. Each of these people ended up in this particular place, in this particular program, for various reasons, and those reasons are irrelevant for this particular fairy tale.
     Within this group smaller groups formed. The smaller groups were fluid and often able to come together, separate, swap members, swap back and generally get along. The larger group and the smaller groups were good spirited, generally happy, worked well together and the people within them  somehow seemed to grow to care about one another very quickly. Their caring was shown frequently and genuinely. These people were in a field of caring, and they did seem to fit in.

     This particular smaller group had grown close and studied together, cared for one another, and were reliable when it really counted. This group was made up of three girls and a boy; Nicole, Carla, Andrew and myself. The winter months came and this group had a sad matter brought to their attention. Hanukkah fell early that year, and made it so that Carla, who happened to be Jewish, would not be able to spend it with her family. Instead she would be spending the time of celebration studying, states away from her loving family. Andrew told Nicole and myself about the unfortunate timing of these events, so we had no option except to act. This little group had grown close for a reason, and the reason was that we already cared.



     Andrew volunteered his apartment, Nicole her sneaky friend skills and her car, my mother food and a little bit of funding, and me some mediocre cooking skills and enthusiasm. While Carla prepared to spend these 8 nights of celebration alone, away from her family, knowing that they would be spending this time together while she did her best to learn, we went to work. The three of us snuck around behind Carla's back to learn everything we could about this very traditional holiday as quickly as we could to throw together a surprise to help one of our friends be just a little less homesick during a holiday we didn't necessarily understand.

      In addition to bringing it to our attention and volunteering his apartment for this surprise, Andrew helped us by speaking with his family and friends to find traditional music and other common rituals that we might be able to pull off. He let me come over early to decorate his apartment somewhat sparsely (you have to remember that we were still poor college young adults) in the traditional colors and with Hanukkah decorations that my loving mother (who hadn't even met these people, I might add) found for us. I brought recipes that I found online, and hoped that Carla could help us with them since they seemed a little more complex than I was used to. Andrew also surprised me with a box of chocolates as a gift to my mother for helping us pull some of this together.

     While Andrew and I scrambled to get this little party together, Nicole did her part. She picked up a somewhat saddened Carla for our scheduled study session. Carla had been putting on a brave face for us, but we all knew how sad we would have been if we had to miss Christmas with our families. Nicole and Andrew pulled off what may have been the most difficult part of this whole little plan, which was convincing Carla that she needed to come up to the apartment instead of just picking Andrew up. We worked together to bring a little light to the festival of lights that one of our friends held dear. 

At one point, Andrew even confiscated my phone.

 Anyone who knows me knows that this was a dangerous move for him to try, but I let him keep it for a bit so that we all could dedicate our attention to our darling friend.

     It isn't time for Hanukkah again. I haven't even seen these people in over 2 years now, since I graduated. I don't even know what made me think of that darling evening that spread so much sweetness and caring between the four of us. This celebration was during our very first semester together. Following that a lot of things happened to push us closer together or pull us apart, but no matter what happens, I'll always remember my Hanukkah. 

The End.