The West Side (Seattle/Tacoma/Olympia), China, Jordan, Utah, South Korea, Idaho, Albania, Taiwan, Wyoming, Southwest Washington (Vancouver/Portland), Saudi Arabia, Louisiana, Alaska, and Maryland. Those are just some of the places from which our neighbors in our apartment complex have come.
Nearly three years ago, our family set out on an adventure . . . moving from the Midwest to the Great Northwest. My husband had always wanted to be a professor, but he needed a Ph. D. After much prayer for God to tell us where he wanted us to go, and to be clear in His answer, we discovered that he wanted us in the thriving metropolis of Pullman, Washington (where we had no family or friends)! You know. . .Pullman, Washington, the Lentil Capital of the World?! Don't worry; we didn't know that either until a friend of ours informed us of that before we departed. Anyway, we got here and what a beautiful place! It is a small town of 27,000 that sits on rolling hills. My mom described the scenery as "endless golf courses". While we were able to go home for the Christmas/New Year's holidays a few months after we moved here, and we hoped to go back during the following summer, but our lack of money did not allow it. Little did I know that we were in for a treat. We spent the summer hanging out at the playground directly behind our building. It did have an interesting beginning as it snowed on June 10, 2008 Crazy!! But, I digress. . .
Perhaps hanging out at the playground does not seem that interesting, but it was because it was during those beautiful warm sunny days (with low humidity) that we began forming new friendships. Since Pullman is a small college town, it is very transient in nature. People don't move to the other side of town (like in my hometown), they either move in or move out of Pullman. With that said, it is common to meet people, spend lots of time with them, and then watch them move away just nine months later. Ironically, I posted a blog entry entitled, "This is Not My Home. . ." with regard to that very thing, two years ago almost to the day (June 27, 2008). Anyway, these friendships that we were forming on the playground would prove to be different. You see, many people/families have come and gone, but there has been a core group of us, of different races/nationalities, that arrived around the same time and will be leaving around the same time. This year, summer in Pullman has seemed to get a late start, so it has been difficult to catch up with everyone and what is going on in their lives. It is amazing how it gets so crazy during the school year (with school, work, and snow) that you can actually go weeks and months without ever seeing your neighbor. So, this past Saturday, we were all out and about enjoying the absolutely beautiful weather. Someone threw out the idea of getting together for a potluck-type barbecue this upcoming weekend. What a fantastic idea!! But then a bit sadness came over me because I realized that our time together is winding down. Next summer will prove to be very different as many of us (if not, all) will graduate, find jobs, and move away. The probability of us all settling down in Pullman is pretty much like. . .zero. But what makes my heart ache is that the probability that we will all see each other again is also pretty low. While globalization has taken this world by storm, (and I could be wrong) but I just do not see us all making frequent trips to China, South Korea, Albania, or Saudi Arabia. You know what I mean? So, I'm looking forward to our cookout this coming weekend, but my heart will be a little heavy as I have an idea of what the near future holds.
But, perhaps the cure for this heavy heart of mine is to think rather about how the Lord answered the prayers of my heart in the first place. As an African-American, I believe it is important to spend time with other African-American people, but at the same time, it is also very important to me that my children form friendships with all kinds of people (after all, we are all God's creation). While Pullman is a predominantly Caucasian town, the Lord sent us to our apartment complex that is so diverse, it has been dubbed, "The UN". He answered my prayer!Since He answered that prayer, I know He will answer other prayers. I hope we will all look back on this time together, amidst the stress of class, exams, new additions to our families, poverty, (etc.) as a beautiful and memorable time in our lives. And if we are unable to see each other again, that they will remember our family as one who strived to love them with the love of God.
