“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.”
Wow, it’s already June 9!! Which means in a little over a month my AMA year is over. It has gone amazingly fast, too fast for my own liking. It has been full of ups and downs and rotaries aka traffic circles (right Sr. Catherine and Liz?) and detours, but I wouldn’t trade any of it at all!
I am now in the process of trying to figure out what all of this has meant to me. How exactly have I changed? What exactly is different about me? Am I any closer to knowing what it is I want to do for the rest of my life? These are all questions without answers at this point in time…and I’m 100% ok with that for now. For so long I have told myself that I need to have a solid plan and have every question answered at the beginning and end of everything, but really, sometimes you just have to go with the flow and know that God will bring you closer to where you need to be!
This year has been a lot of learning, growing, cake baking, laughter and love. I have also learned to love the quirkiness of Worcester residents (Liz and I believe there might be something in the water that adds to the quirkiness, because we may have picked it up too). I also love all of the people I have been with this year, from my housemates/community mates Kristen and Liz, to the sisters, to all of the kids in our mentoring program, our ESL students, and our garden families. So many people came into my life this year and have shared so much love with me. I know in every entry I talk about the love, but to be honest, that is the only way to describe what this year has been all about. Everyone, including people we had met once during the whole year, has showered Liz and I with so much love and support. There is no way to describe all of the love, and how it has felt to be loved by so many.
If I was leaving Worcester on July 15th for good, I would be feeling much worse about leaving, but thankfully I will be leaving Worcester for only a month and then returning as the Program Coordinator for Assumption Center. Assumption Center is where I live right now and is also where all of our programs are run out of. I am blessed that I will be able to spend another year here in Worcester, working with all of our wonderful kids and adults in all of our programs!
And even though I will be returning in August, I am still sad about this year ending. It has been a truly wonderful year, totally different than what I had expected, but amazing nonetheless. This year has opened my eyes to so many things, including my own strengths. I can never list all this year has been, and will continue to be for the rest of my life. I still have another month here as an AMA and I know in that time more AMAzing things will happen.
So for now all I can do is just enjoy this last month as an AMA, with whatever comes my way, and try to start really thinking about what this all has been for me…
