another move...another goodbye...

"I'm never going to move again, ever!" Adam declared emphatically as he plopped down on the bed in the office of our new house, after two days of single-handedly moving all our stuff from one house to another.

Yes, we just moved again--our third move this year (there were actually four, but I am really only counting three, because one of those moves involved living somewhere for only two nights total). This move was not very far--we were moving from one side of a duplex to another house just steps away. But it was a difficult move because Adam had to do it all himself; I was mostly laid up in bed and trying to watch the two little boys, thanks to spraining my ankle while falling off a step on the day we were originally going to start moving.

In any case, we are here now, in the new and bigger house. The office (pictured partially above) may turn out to be one of my favorite rooms in the house, because I get my own desk, and because two sides of the room are almost completely lined with windows. Maybe having such a great place to study will actually make me start liking to do sit-down desk work? We shall see.

The sad part about moving into this new place is that it was only available to move into because it was just vacated by a couple of our colleagues who had already become pretty special to us, even though we've only known them for two months as neighbors. Will and Judith (on the left) really helped welcome us and help us settle into Bangui, as did Beth (on the right). I'm happy to say that Beth is not moving away at the moment; she is still our next-door neighbor (we were sharing a duplex with her until now), and we are so happy to have her here.

It was a melancholy day, saying goodbye to Will and Judith and watching them drive away. After talking over it, Adam and I concluded that probably part of what made it sad was the fact that our group here is so small anyways. The smallness of our number contributes, I think, to the closeness everyone feels. And the gap when someone leaves is felt keenly.

Hmm...makes me think of Tennyson's line from In Memoriam, "I hold it true whate'er betide, I feel it when I sorrow most: 'tis better to have loved and lost than never to had loved at all."

Well, maybe that is a tad melodramatic for the situation, but the basic idea holds true. We sure feel blessed to have had a couple months to get to know Will and Judith, to experience their kindness firsthand, and to observe with what gusto and optimism they and their three children have lived their lives here in this country. Even though our time here only overlapped for a little while, we are thankful to have had it together.