Saying good-bye means saying it over and over again until you are wrung out of emotion and tears. Each good-bye gets harder. We met with almost all of our MCC partners and all of our friends. We said good-bye to our friends with quiet dinners at our home, at Glenda's birthday party, when we went out to eat with friends. We visited partners who feted us with pop and popcorn, kolo and gifts.
Many kind words were said about us. After 4 years of feeling unsure if we were making a difference in people's lives it was truly an affirmation. It's hard not to thank people without becoming emotional, to pray without emotion. So yes, I became emotional.
Many of the tributes come back to my mind as I think back to the final two weeks but probably the two the stand out were the farewell from MKC RDA and the farewell from our staff and workers. Very different tributes but the same responses. RDA people said over and over again, thank you for supporting us in our time of crisis. Thank you for being a voice of justice. It felt good to know that they recognized our support during their leadership crisis. The farewell from our staff and workers was similar yet different. Over and over we heard that they very much appreciated our concern about their wages and being able to sustain a living as inflation and the devaluation of the Birr caused much economic hardship in the lives of the people across Ethiopia. We adjusted the pay scale to make it fair and logical. We continued to offer holiday bonuses to our workers which was greatly appreciated. But mostly they said they will miss us. They will miss our daughters. They genuinely liked working at MCC and that felt good. Our housekeeper Yeshi, who we will miss greatly, talked about us being her mentor in the kitchen as well as in parenting (she is still single). Others talked about how our Christian witness was consistent, we were who we said we were. Funny, I sure didn't feel that I was that. I screwed up so many times in my mind. Mekonnen said that I was a partner in fighting for justice, that felt good. Many mentioned Wanda as being a model for women, using the passage from Proverbs of a wise woman. Someone who makes good decisions, who is good at oikos (financial/economic decisions). Another person mentioned how our three daughters treated everyone (the guards, the staff, the housekeepers) with respect. That was a proud moment for me, respect did not go unnoticed.
As the days passed and the countdown continued I could not envision myself not living in that house, not driving in Addis, not seeing the people I was used to seeing, not feeding the dogs and cats everyday. I could not envision the finality of it all. Even as we were saying good bye and packing all our bags, my mind wanted to see this as another trip somewhere with our return inevitable. Our time in Addis was reality, our imminent departure surreal.
And yet here we were packing. I also envisioned having uninterrupted time to pack for that last week. Of course it didn't work out that way. There was always one more good-bye to be said. Wanda had hoped that she would have all day Friday to pack, in the end she was out most of the day and by nightfall was still packing her suitcase. I had done most of the packing and weighing (thanks to our invaluable little aid, an electronic weight scale for luggage). We thought that we would have room because we were leaving behind books and clothes. Nope. In the end we had to rely on the grace of friends who offered to take suitcases with them. Our friends Loren and Glenda both offered to take a suitcase to Harrisonburg, Virginia. Our friends Fanosie Legesse and John Peters are each taking a suitcase to Ontario. Our friends Rick & Alyson took some breakable Ethiopian art with them that would have most likely have broken had we tried to take it. We left some things behind as well but for the most part we were able to take most of our 'stuff' home. We traveled with our requisite 10 pieces plus 5 carry-ons (15 pieces is a lot of luggage! Try it sometime) and sent 4 pieces with others, wow!
Our last night in Addis was exhausting. We were exhausted at saying good bye all day long, running around town all day long, wrapping up loose ends in the office until closing time. Finally everyone went home and our dear friend Glenda came over for a last supper together. That helped take the edge off even if it was sad to think of saying good bye to her. But we agreed we didn't have to do that yet since we were planning to be in Harrisonburg at her house there at the beginning of August.
The girls went to bed and slept, Wanda laid down too but I didn't think I should lest I be too groggy. I tried to watch a movie and fall asleep but I was way too wired to do so. Unfortunately right at the end of the movie my eyes finally wanted to shut but no, it was time to go. So I was groggy at midnight trying to get everyone up, moving luggage out the door and off Bole International. Mekonnen greeted us there and helped us move everything into the airport (with special airport authority permission). We got the large woven basket barrel wrapped with a saran wrap plastic and managed to get everything checked in. The Egypt Air manager gave us a bit of a hard time with our girls carry-ons (never a problem before) but was satisfied to let my carry-on go underneath. I was too tired to remember I had a valuable camera and a fragile Ethiopian coffee pot (jeminah) in it. Somehow nothing was taken and the jeminah didn't break (are you kidding me?).
In the dead of night in Addis Ababa we were processed through and in the darkest hour before dawn (4 a.m.) we departed. Tired and weary, out of tears and sorrow, only wanting to make it to Amsterdam with all of us, and all our stuff, intact.
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