Homeward Bound

       Friday was my last day at Sewanee, and what a day it was! I woke up at 7 to do a little last minute studying for my exam at 9. It was a lot of material and I had originally underestimated how much time I would need to study--but no worries, I was as prepared as I could have been come test time! Alex, Noor and I ran to the dining hall for a carefully planned breakfast for help the brain (peanut butter and eggs are both good, so I had both...)
       The test wasn't too bad and I was out by 11. Alex and I hurriedly gathered up our last minute things, tucked Aram in among her belongings in the backseat (her suitcase is twice as big as she is and she'd asked to drive back to Memphis with us) and were off by 11:30!

       The driving was very smooth and easy, and somehow Alex ended up driving more than me! I promise it wasn't on purpose, that was just how it worked out! She bore it very patiently and drove really well. Before we knew it we were dropping Aram at her house just outside of Memphis and I was guiding us into the city. It felt so nice to be there among those familiar sights. It really felt like a brief but welcome homecoming. We tried to stop by Muddys but the line was so long it was to the door and wrapped back around! It was crazy so we gave up and headed over to meet our friends at Hueys for our impromtu going away party!
      There were twelve of us there and I was so happy I could hardly eat. Lauren, Molly, Kyleigh and Caroline all came with surprise guest appearances from Alex's Afam including Kelsey Young, and Summer Preg! It was absolutely wonderful and I didn't really know whether to laugh hysterically or bawl because I was so glad to see them. Mostly we laughed. It's really going to be hard to be without them for a whole semester, with their Rhodes lives going along and me not being in them. I will certainly be thinking of them while I am across the water, and I hope they won't completely forget me before I come back! Lauren and I snagged a pic but otherwise the rather momentous going away party was undocumented. Each goodbye was special and felt very personal--miraculously, I didn't feel sad exactly,  but really just happy to have that moment with people I dearly care for.

       Before we knew it, Alex and I were back on the road--the road home! We stopped by Rhodes for a quick drive thru, then on the way out, rolled down the windows and yellowed "BYE RHODES" as loud as we could. The last goodbye of the evening. It was 10:30 before we got back to the LR. It had been 11 hours on the road, and we were definitely feeling it as we drove across the Arkansas River into Little Rock.
       Alex flew home to Dallas the next morning, and since then I've had two days here at home. I've already seen so many of my loved ones, including Ayana, Kyra, Uncle Larry, Uncle D and Grandmama, got my hair trimmed, and begun the process of preparing for my long time away.

I fly out on Thursday on the adventure of a lifetime.