Beauty Out of Ashes: Home

This past Wednesday night I rolled into San Juan on the last bus from the capital. Despite having been on the road for over 16 hours and being completely exhausted, I was like an eager little kid- peering out the bus windows, hardly able to sit still. I was home again. I had just spent a fantastic two weeks visiting family and friends back at home in PA and VA. I'm still figuring out the details of how to combine my two homes, all the folks I consider to be my family, but boy, am I so thankful to have them all.

This visit back to the states was spurred by a couple things. One is that my beautiful, 89 year-old grammy Ruth was diagnosed with cancer (again) the other month. Knowing how precious life is, I really just wanted to be able to hang with her for awhile. She is an AMAZING woman, and that's downplaying it. She's definitely slowed down a bunch, but I just adore her. We had a great time together. I like to think I got some of my spunkiness from her. I also had some of my own medical things to take care of. This herniated disc in my neck doesn't always make life the easiest. So my doc and I had high hopes for the injection that I had scheduled. Unfortunately, it didn't provide the relief hoped for, so that brings up a bunch more questions about how to proceed with treatment, and whether surgery will now be sooner rather than later. Such a bummer. But too, I seriously have the COOLEST and most FABULOUS friends in the world, and my family just pretty much ROCKS- so I definitely wanted to jump at the chance to get to spend time with them in person after being away for 6 months.

There was so much goodness. Depth. Beauty. It came in all shapes, and colors, and sizes- some rather surprising. Things like: My friend's children meeting me at the train station with homemade cardboard "Welcome Home" signs. '80s Dance Party at the dinner table. Playing at the park. Driving on the freeway. Going for walks. Snuggling my friends' babies. Dinners and Breakfasts and Lunches (did I mention that I grew like 5 new chichos?) Soccer games. Going to the theater with my mom and sister. Worshipping at the MG. Target. Early morning drives to high school. Celebrating my mom's birthday. Talking and laughing and just sharing in day-to-day life. So many things. So many wonderful people. But even two weeks is just not enough time to find and spend time with everyone (most especially missed my big brother and his beautiful wife-- who are expecting my first nephew in June! Next time for sure.)

I don't have words to express the gratitude I have for all of my people back in the states. I know that without their support, love, and encouragement, I would never be able to be living this life that I am so thankful for in the Dominican Republic. to call San Juan "HOME."

Wish I had more photos to share, but here are a few...