Ending Remarks

Listening to the silvery moonlit symphony of insects, I'm taken back to childhood in a big cedar-sided house in the woods.

It's a different day. Different side of the state. I'm a different person. But the crickets sound EXACTLY the same as they did when I was little. 

Nostalgia. 

Looking back on the past month, it's hard to imagine saying goodbye to the people I've come to interact with as family. 

Sure, I live only a short walk away from some of them. Others, I may not see again for a long time. Even when I do see the distant ones again, though, I know it won't be quite the same. The dynamics will be different. We won't have everyday life and work in common anymore. 

The past few years, it's been difficult for me to make close friends with the people I've gone to school with. Oh yes, I'm friends with everyone, but I haven't really gotten attached to anyone. I've always felt like I am a little too different to really be accepted, so I haven't let myself relax at school. 

I had almost forgotten what it was like to form strong friendships with people; to be able to relax and be accepted and appreciated for who I am.

That's an experience I wish for everyone.

You all need to be able to have friends you love to be yourself with. Friends you can speak your mind with, and know that they will try to understand you. 

I've been so blessed to make friends like that over this summer. One of them is my sister, and most of the rest of the other 5 are people I've known for a while but never gotten very close to. A couple of my teammates I had never met before, but both of them have taken me as a legitimate sister (not like the conservative dear "sister"). We all laugh hysterically with each other, have long drawn-out affirmation sessions, and encourage each other at work. 

Every morning, I can look out the kitchen window and see Jake walking barefooted around the perimiter of the playground, praying and looking for interesting bugs. He is absolutely crazy about insects, catching Brown Recluse spiders and giant pinching beetles and storing them in the refrigerator for later consideration. 

We never know when he'll come to breakfast holding some new kind of moth  or grub. 

"Hey guys, have you ever seen this before?? This is a (insert species name)!! I've always wanted to see one of these! Just look at it!" 

We raise our eyebrows, grunt affirmatively, and keep on eating. Jake amuses himself with the bug, exclaiming over it, and forgetting to eat his breakfast. Next morning he brings in a ginormous beetle, and gets a few squeals out of the girls (mainly me and my sister). No matter what Jake brings in, we know it will be interesting and presented with great enthusiasm. 

Also, his fervor for collecting Bible study contacts in the field is unrivaled. I'm sure he's gotten the more than the rest of the team combined. This guy is devoted, caring, and hard-working. And he purposely annoys me to death, just like a little brother would. I'm going to miss him a lot. 

There is Hannah, who's been on many adventures with me. She's faithful, trustworthy, and unexpectedly hilarious. Although she lives close to me, I've gotten much closer to her during this summer. 

I've heard someone else say that she has a high EQ, and I would definitely agree. She's as even-keeled as Beethoven was tempestuous, and as constantly cheerful as Oscar the Grouch was grumpy. 

Her siblings, Nathan and Bethany are too. Bethany is the most soft-spoken, demure, sweet girls who ever canvassed. She strolls up to the doors, talks in a cute little voice, twinkles her eyes at the people, and they buy her books. Incidentally, she can also Ripstik like a boss and canvass all day and still run away from her leader at pickup time. I did not expect her to be so tough, but she is literally completely imperturbable. She is quiet, but often comes out with the funniest comments, and we are all like, "Bethany? Where did she come from?" 

Nathan loves to be a clown, putting on accents and pretending to be seriously retarded. We laugh at his shamelessness, but he's actually quite hillarious even when he's not trying to be funny. Although he's a goober, I'm always proud to see him going from door to door with a calm determination. He has the ability to connect with people well and loves animals almost more than people. It's quite unusual to see a guy in his late teens rescue an injured juvenile robin while at work and tend to the bird over the next couple of days at the loss of his own free time. The bird flew away, but Nathan still worried about him and went looking for him.