Rain Is a Good Thing

Last night some volunteers from the Mt Vernon, Jackson, and McCreary Houses went to the drive-in in Somerset as a send-off for Lucas, Ludivine, and Jenny. Lucas and Ludivine left today and Jenny will be leaving midway through this week. The Jackson crew drove down to Mt Vernon, and then we met up with the McCreary bunch in Somerset where we had dinner at Fazoli's (Did you know Fazoli's began in Lexington?? And that it's more of a "Kentucky thing"?) I think we had about thirteen people all together.

We stepped outside of the restaurant to find huge black clouds rolling in from the west. Everything in the air that was blowing around us said it was fixing to storm. As if the powerful wind wasn't enough, lightning was going off like Christmas tree lights. I don't think I've ever seen as much lightning. It felt so good to stand outside and feel that wind while we tried to make a decision regarding the movie. We ended up sticking with the original plan. As much as I love the drive-in, I wasn't sure how this was going to work out, as it was clearly about to storm. Luckily, the Mt Vernon group had driven the CAP minivan. We put down the back seats and sat in the back with the back hatch open. The six of us got pretty close, and it was a little warm, but the storm air kept us cool. Not long after we parked it started pouring. I'm talking sheets and sheets of rain, pounding on the roof so loudly that it was hard to hear the movie (turned all the way up on the radio).

Lucas was so excited about the fact that we were sitting in the middle of a storm watching a movie. His giddiness was contagious. It was cool. Even after the heavy rain and thunder stopped (about 15 minutes into the movie) lightning continued to light up the sky for the rest of the night. It was the kind that leaped from cloud to cloud, making the sky behind the giant screen a pinkish purple. Nature outshone the silver screen that night. This morning Lucas said that he'd always remember that night. I have to agree. I'm glad we stayed.

It makes me think about the plans we make in life: they don't always turn out exactly as we thought, but I guess they turn out just the way they should.

The McCreary branch drove straight home after the second movie, but the Jackson group drove back to Mt Vernon to spend the night. As we drove home, Carl got a call that his father passed away that evening. His parents just celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary a couple weeks ago, and Carl and all his siblings had gone out to Arizona to visit them. I'm really glad that they all got to spend time with their dad not long before his passing. Carl seems to be handling it well, his dad was 92, and Carl had suspected that he didn't have much longer when he last saw him. The ride home was a quiet one as Carl called his siblings and tried to figure out travel arrangements. When we got to the Mt Vernon house, we all just sat around the living room, bundled up in comforters (in true sleepover fashion) and talked with Carl. It was a really great community moment. Carl told us how much the entire CAP community meant to him, and that he thought of us all as grandchildren. After Carl and Jenny went upstairs to bed, it was about 2 am and everything was hilarious:  things such as "Do bugs breathe?" / "carbonbunoxide" / any country song lyrics, but especially Luke Bryan's classic "Rain Is a Good Thing" / and the way Bridget snorts when she laughs.

This morning I went to Mass in Berea and then went to the Mt Vernon house for breakfast with the Jackson House. Lucas made banana and chocolate chip pancakes. Yum! Then it was time to say goodbye to Lucas and Ludivine. Although I haven't spent a lot of time with Lucas, it was still a hard goodbye. That's just the way things are, sometimes you've only known someone a short time, but they make such an impact on her your heart that it seems much longer. And of course there is the flip side, when you wait anxiously for particularly difficult housemates to give their goodbyes. Anyway, Ludivine is going back to Paris, but she loves Kentucky, so I have a feeling that I may see her again. Lucas is much closer, in Cincinnati, and I know he'll be back at CAP every now and then. It was also hard to say goodbye to the Jackson House in general, the ones who aren't even leaving, because it feels like I don't get to see them very often and they're so much fun to be around. They invited me to come hang out sometime, so I'll have to take them up on that offer.

Speaking of hard goodbyes, I got several pieces of mail on Saturday (my most in one day - 4! and 2 were packages!). One of the packages contained my mix CDs from Olivia! I wish she could still be here with me. I know she would have had fun at the drive-in. And don't even get me started on what it will be like to say goodybe to Jenny this week. I think it will be my hardest goodbye of the whole experience - not just so far, but possibly of the entire 11 months. I can project this theory because Jenny is the only person I will have worked so closely with.

So it was a really great weekend! But oh I hate these goodbyes.