Day 40: Lean On Me

You know, there are slow-paced hymns... and then there are funeral-derge-paced hymns. I never thought I'd sing Scatter Sunshine at funeral derge speed. But today, I definitely did.

Miriam and I were LITERALLY dying of laugher. I think if the song had been longer than three verses we might have actually keeled over and died. Really. I'm not kidding.

Michael and Esther kept looking at me from across the aisle like I was crazy. And I suspect I probably DID look sort of nuts, because my body was shaking up and down like I was sitting in the tube. But I was trying my hardest not to ACTUALLY laugh! Miriam and I really tried to keep ourselves together. But as soon as we regained some kind of composure, we'd start singing "scaaaaaaattttteeeeeeerrrrrr suuuuuuunnnnnshhhhhiiiinnnnnneeee", look at each other, and completely lose it all over again!

Sweet Sister Ruth... she told me she loved my singing... that she loved to sit next to me and hear my beautiful voice. But I can't imagine how she could have enjoyed that particular hymn, seeing as how I laughed during the whole thing for no apparent reason.

An unmistakable Utah Mormon Family walked into the chapel during the opening hymn. They looked so out of place-the girls with their brightly colored dresses and gigantic flowers in their hair- and the boys in their white shirts and ties. I guess I had got used to being in the minority, being surrounded by different colors and accents, and seeing jeans, t-shirts, and hats as commonplace church attire. We couldn't believe how OBVIOUSLY Utah they were... so we decided to ask after the meeting. Sure enough, they were from Sandy. Go figure.

The rest of the meeting was lovely, (and a little more reverent), but extraordinarily HOT. All the ladies had their fans waving slowing back and forth as they nodded, and Miriam and I found some old coloring projects from primary to convert into our own fanning instruments.

During the meeting Adam ran up to Miriam, threw a drawing on her lap, and ran back to his seat. Sophie came and teased us, never getting quite close enough to grab, but close enough to be a distraction. And Michael made eyes at me the whole time, but as soon as I'd look over at him, he'd turn his head real fast like he had been paying attention the whole time. Oh... ten year old boys.

In primary Esther wouldn't speak to me. When I finally asked her what was wrong, she turned a very sad lower lip on me, arms folded, and said "I don't want you to LEAVE"... Oh, Esther... I don't want to leave either. But please don't be angry with me!

During sharing time I had Sean on my lap, Adam on my right with his hand on my arm, Jaime and Jemma on my left leaning against my shoulder. All the sudden I'd become a superstar, and everybody wanted to sit on top of me. But I can't say that I minded... it felt good to finally be friends with those little primary kids. Of course it had to be on my last day...

Brother Ojo came into the Primary room, looking for me. He apologized for interrupting, and whispered "Please give me your contact information before you leave today!"... I promised that I would, and he hurried out of the room again. I smiled at his concern... I would never have left without a way to talk to him. Oh, Brother Ojo.

I was put in charge of the 8-11 year old Sunday School class... again. But this time I was all alone. Tiko was so naughty I just wanted to cry. And Michael wasn't helping either. They just screamed at each other, and I finally just gave up because they weren't listening to anything I said. I sat there and colored with Jemma, lettting the boys yell at each other for almost ten minutes, until they started pushing, and then I intervened. (I didn't really want to stop a fist fight). I glared at them for a few seconds, asked if they were finished, and told them I'd miss them, even though they were horribly misbehaved sometimes.

All of the classes met back in the primary room for the last ten minutes. We took pictures, and said our goodbyes, snacking on some homemade cake and biscuits. I got about three hugs from each of the kids... Esther was the last, and she just wouldn't let go, so I sat there and hugged her. My heart ached, and I felt like some kind of traitor as she looked up at me with her big dark eyes.

I hugged the Primary presidency, and thanked them for everything. I hugged the kids one last time- Holly, John, Adam, Michael, Nathan, Tiko, Sean, Jemma, Jaime.... I found Brother Ojo, handed him a piece of paper, told him not to lose it, and hugged him too.

As we walked out of the building, we saw the choir ladies practicing through the window. They waved us back frantically, (distressed because they had not said their goodbyes)... and we gave them each a kiss on the cheek and a thank you. Grandma Emma was there in the chapel, and when I told her it was our last week, she got teary eyed and wailed, "but I never got to feed you!!"... She gave me her telephone number and told me to call her up to chat, and said if I ever came back, and she wasn't in Ghana, that she would feed me.

Miriam practically had to drag me from the church... I just didn't want to leave. I didn't realize how much I loved that ward until I had to leave it...

The tube was absolutely packed. We stood there, huddled together, jammed into the heat along with everyone else. And as the train jerked, Arielle slipped and grabbed my arm... She apologized, and I told her, "Arielle, you can lean on me any time..." (in a very cheesy voice). But I meant it. And Miriam and I started singing, very quietly, "Lean on me, when you're not strong... I'll be your friend. I'll help you carry on!"....

The ward members sent us home with bags full of food. We decided that a picnic in the park after the hour long ride home was a good idea, and stopped quickly at the flats to grab some cups and forks. We SHOULD have got plates. And napkins! But, we managed to eat the mountains of fried chicken, green salad, spicy rice, and marbled cake (despite the mess).

Miriam poured us each a glass of juice. Debbie downed hers within seconds, but the rest of us had a little difficulty swallowing. As we inspected the label, we discovered that what we had poured so liberally was actually SYRUP. And it was mean to be mixed with four parts water to every one part flavoring. Oops.

We laughed a lot. Our fingers got sticky. We tried to pour the remains of water bottles into the syrup filled glasses. We enjoyed the sunshine beaming down on Hyde Park, basked in the company of friends, and soaked in the absolute perfection of the moment. I don't think that I could ever imagine a better day... a better meal... better company... or a better place to eat on a Sunday afternoon.

We returned to the flats just in time for our last fireside. Of course, following standard Mormon tradition, it was a testimony meeting. And as I sat there listening to the the thoughts, discoveries, and memories, I realized that over the last few weeks, I had made a room full of friends. When I first walked into that prep class six months ago, I was a total stranger. And now, as I looked at each of these people, I saw a friend. Someone I had talked with, grown with, laughed with. And it was sort of bitter sweet, Because I knew the likelihood that we'd all be together again was slim.

After the fireside I got together with my presentation group for Roger's class. We were supposed to do an adaptation of All My Sons. The night before we had talked about exploring the relationship between Annie and Mark through their letters... but we hadn't got any farther than that. But I woke abruptly this morning after a very vivid dream....

We were about to present, and I turned to Cali, frantic. I didn't know what we were doing with the letters! She just shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, like she couldn't speak. And so I dragged her outside, ready to beat it out of her, if necessary. She just handed me a piece of paper, and there, I saw the diagram for exactly how we'd do the performance....

The girls laughed at me when I told them I'd had a dream about our presentation.... But, what I'd seen on the paper in my dream really WAS a good idea. So we used it.

That night I talked to mom, and it made me homesick.

And then, it was time to sleep.

Another day gone.