terrypurple73 | (no subject)

Crazy, crazy week. I don’t even know what all has happened. A lot, I think.
Yesterday, I went across the street to visit Little Kevin for a while. I can’t believe how good it was to see him. Even though this kid can just be a brat (and he was being one over there, bossing around his siblings), I realized that I really have missed him the past few weeks. He seems to be doing all right, and he’s in good spirits for the most part. We just hung out in his room for a bit, and I asked him questions about his injury and stuff. I haven’t talked to him since it happened, haven’t even seen him except for the day after the accident when we saw him (sleeping) in the hospital. He showed me his leg- the wound and all. He doesn’t have a cast on, but there are these four big screws/pins stuck into his shin, all connected to this black piece on the outside. Then he’s got gauze wrapped around part of that set-up. The pin closest to his knee isn’t really covered, and I could basically see it sticking into his leg. And he lifted up the gauze so I could see the gash. The boy’s going to have one noteworthy scar when this ordeal is over. He’s in a wheelchair with his legs sticking out in front of him, so it’s hard for him to maneuver around, especially since their house isn’t all that big. I asked him how long he was going to be in the wheelchair for; last time I’d talked to his mom, they were guessing a couple months. He told me eight months, and I thought he must be confused. The kid’s only nine, it would be easy to get confused about how long until your surgery, how long you’re in a wheelchair, how long until you go back to school, etc. But I talked to his mom when she came home, and she confirmed that- eight months in a wheelchair. That’s a damn long time. Dang.
He was still Kevin as always, though- bossy, and his potty mouth intact. I asked him questions about how he does things like take baths or go to the bathroom, and when he’s going back to school, and what he does all day long, and whatnot. I think it felt good for me to realize that I have missed him, annoying as he can be. Sometimes I have trouble with how we as a community sometimes treat Kevin by brushing him away and things like that, when we are supposed to be a community of hospitality. It’s the whole OnCorps question of seeing Christ in other people, even those who we don’t know or like. And maybe it even just felt good to have one-on-one contact with a kid.

Now, here comes the Meg part of Theresa’s entry: I went to a concert last night! I saw Ben Folds (and Duncan Sheik)! Ben played the piano in a way I have never heard before! That piano got the best workout it had ever received. We danced, and people gave him that ‘metal’ sign with their hands, and we crammed a lot of people at the front of the stage. And both performers got entirely quite a bit of glee out of saying things like “devil,” “fuck,” and “bitch” repeatedly in a Catholic school gymnasium. But I was really glad I went, even if I did only know one song by each of them beforehand. I went with Vicky’s friend Jenny (who came to visit me this summer with Victoria) and Jenny’s friend Katie (a monstrously major Ben Folds fan). Victoria had to work, which smelled bad, but it was still a good time. I hung out with Michael and this girl Allie, who comes to Amnesty and now apparently to some APO things, though she’s only a freshman. But I really like her, and it was good to hang out with her after I ended up losing Jenny and Katie halfway through the concert. J

This whole weekend flew by, and disappeared before I even got a chance to realize it was doing so. And somehow, today (especially tonight) has been the opposite- every time I look at the clock, it’s at least an hour earlier than I think it is supposed to be.

On the busy side of Theresa’s schedule, I LEAVE FOR GEORGIA IN FOUR DAYS!!! Wahoo! I can’t believe how much is going into putting this trip together, but it finally is happening. It kept seeming so far away, until all of a sudden, we were leaving in a week. Wee! There has been so much to arrange, and I have been the one doing quite a bit of it. Not even as much as Wendy (from the CCSJ) has been doing, but a lot. I’m supposed to be co-coordinating this with Dan Justin, but I’ve sort of felt like he hasn’t been doing as much. Which gets kind of stressful, but not entirely. I like to know what is going on and how far we are on certain tasks, so it’s nice to have full reign of that. We have 24 people going this year- TWENTY-FOUR. Do you know how many that is? A lot! My freshman year, there were maybe seventeen of us who went, and last year there were only nine. This year, we are bringing three vans, and I am so excited. SO excited!!! I’m excited to travel, to take in more, to learn more than I expect to, to grow in my understandings and in my faith, to make a difference, to open up this opportunity to all these other Creighton students, to meet new people, to reflect on these experiences as a group, to get a tour (just for our group of Creighton people) of the SOA and a chance to dialogue with a few of the people from the school. I am excited for so much, and it’s only a few days away.

Those are the thoughts occupying my mind at the moment…. There seems to be a lot happening, but also not, at the same time. No major stressful freaking outs as of yet, which I’m taking as either a plus sign, or else an indicator of what is to come later in the semester. Hmmm….

Also, community is going pretty well. There have been a few issues, but it’s been pretty much under control. We are all in the process of still learning how other people function. Ellen, a girl I know through SWK and FLP, was over studying with KP today (wow, that was a lot of initials for one sentence), and she made the comparison to the community as living with a whole new family, and that was such a good distinction to make. I mean, everyone in the community is someone I would consider a friend (some closer than others, of course, but friends, and people I trust with a lot of things), but there is more to it than that. There really is a family aspect to it, all household chores and duties aside. We all have to work around each other and understand each other’s habits, quirks, and pet peeves. We have to learn how to be around each other when someone is stressed, sick of everyone else, or giddy about somethingorother. But I do love it here, so much. This is the place I need to be this year, and I know that it’s right.

Edit, 1:27 Monday morning: Eric told us (the little house) that he needed to talk to us tonight, and wanted us to be around at 11:15. It sounded like he was being pretty serious. So he came over, sat us down, and told us. He’s moving out of the community next semester. Being the queen of keeping my emotions inside, I cried about five times. I’ve grown to really like Eric, and I don’t want him gone. I want him here, living with us, in my CLC group, making jokes, calling me “Bro,” keeping us all focused on service and volunteering, sending us environmental emails, cooking with me, everything. I don’t want him to move out.
I know that I trust him to make the decision that is best for him in the long run, but this just sucks. And he knows it too, even though it’s happening anyway. I understand his reasoning, but it just sucks. I hate that this is happening. I’m trying to understand, and I know it would be so, SO hard on him to live in community with Lucie, but…. Damn. Damn, damn, damn.
I’m sure I’ll talk more about this later.