My last day!!

Despite the questions about celebration and whooping it up, today ended quietly and without whoopla! I came home and cried. Sappy, maybe, but honest. Jon, my boss, started it when he said good-bye early. It was all downhill from there. Gratefully, I talked to some family and friends and had a mellow movie night. Packing up some of the memories in my office: marathon, volunteers, Colorado Anti-hunger Network meetings, and pictures; what a naked office! I look forward to returning to see what Minerva does with the little office with no windows and the biggest door. peace...tori

preparing...

It has been a nutty past month. I have not spent a lot of time working on plans for my travels because there has been so much going on. Most people that know me would guess there is almost always "so much going on". I lost two dear men in my life in the last month, and the sadness of my own transition has been greater for grieving them. Here is my little tribute to them. Words fail, but my memory still captures them. Brad Wells was a stable part of my Wednesdays for the last seven years. A dedicated volunteer in the pantry every Wednesday, he could be counted on for stories of his grandchildren or of the wilderness he loved. I was grateful to have just shared with him the Wednesday before he died about my adventures and intention to climb to Machu Picchu. What a joy to have his blessing before he left us on July 27th! On July 27th I was in Portland playing cribbage with my grandpa for the last time. I was born on his 55th birthday, and we almost always celebrated together. Erik and I traveled to Portland for his 85th birthday - a big one! A month earlier I began to teach Erik how to play cribbage, so he could play with Grandpa, but I smoked them both. He was also my godfather, and his devotion and faith were like no other's (except Grandma, my godmother). He passed on August 9th and was buried on my baptismal day. Oh to have faith like him! I am grateful he instilled a love of ice cream in me, among other things. What a blessing to have been there to celebrate with all the family, so many I loved to see when I lived in Portland and they came to visit Grandma and Grandpa! As planned, I will go to Portland for September. I leave on the 6th and return to Denver on the 25th, long enough to be there for my dad's 59th birthday! If you're a Portlander, maybe we can rendezvous for tea or ice cream. As the two weeks close in, I am nervous that I will not be ready to leave. I don't think all the time in the world would change that. peace...tori

transitions

August 31st will be a sad day for me - the last day of work at Metro CareRing. I will begin a new chapter in my life, though my chapter here isn't really ending...just changing. It began last fall when I went to Japan to visit Joyce & Andy. Amy wondered to me when she would get to travel again like that, and I realized what an opportunity and privilege I have to travel and learn first-hand about our global neighbors. My visit to Japan was amazing, and I especially enjoyed a week of work on an apple farm in Nagano-ken. The seed was planted! Months later I enjoyed a week and a half with my new friend Christina on her farm in Monda, Spain last winter, and all the time I had digging in the dirt by myself led me to thinking. Could I be ready for a change? Do I want to farm and travel more than I want the security of my Denver family and a terrific workplace? You know my decision. How difficult it is to initiate such a huge change when life is so great! I sure upset the balance, and it is not easy letting go...however short-term my absence in Denver. I plan to spend most of September in Portland and surrounding areas to be with my family and friends. I planned to play lots of cribbage with my grandpa, but his passing this month means I will get to spend more time with Grandma. I look forward to playing with my three goddaughters: Maddie, Sophie, and Ava. And surely I will have time for Mount Hood! In October I plan to leave for Latin America. With all the change and busy-ness of these days, my plans are still fluctuating. I hope to farm and improve my limited Spanish. I delight at the potential to visit friends in Central America, though I am most excited to meet new ones. In December my boyfriend Erik is coming to meet me for a hike up the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. We will celebrate his 30th in Peru before he brings me home to Denver, so I can be in Portland by Christmas. I look forward to seeing friends when I return to Denver in January. I will be job hunting then, though I joke that skiing may come first! Please come back and read, as I hope to post more as my plans solidify and my journey continues. May peace be yours, and may God bless you richly! tori