This is a question I asked myself several times near the end of the summer while saying my goodbyes to friends back home. After seeing the same people nearly every day for 4 years of high school, it was hard to imagine going nearly 8 months without seeing one of these familiar faces! But in the midst of the teary-eyed farewells, I knew that the good came from the new adventure I was to face and the new friends that awaited me on board the Africa Mercy. It did not occur to me at the time, however, that this entire year would be full of goodbyes as people are coming and going from the ship on a regular basis. Up until this point no one had left the ship that I was close to, so I had never really understood this painful aspect of ship life. This week, however, I had to say goodbye to several people I had grown close with over the past 2 months.
This week alone, I said goodbye to two roommates, two of my fellow swing dancers, an
d two Ghana trip-goers, along with a few other people I have gotten to know quite well. On Wednesday evening, my friends Hilary and Natalie Cupp returned back to the States. Arriving shortly after me, I got to know the sisters because we were all new together. I soon found out that they both loved to swing dance, an activity I picked up my senior year of high school. We would set up speakers in the dining hall and teach some guys how to partner. The activity caught on quickly and we soon had a large group of spectators and participants several evenings a week. Now that they have left, we hope to continue the dancing, but know that it won’t be the same. The evening Hilary and Natalie left, we decided that we were not saying an official “goodbye” because we are determined to see each other again next year.
d two Ghana trip-goers, along with a few other people I have gotten to know quite well. On Wednesday evening, my friends Hilary and Natalie Cupp returned back to the States. Arriving shortly after me, I got to know the sisters because we were all new together. I soon found out that they both loved to swing dance, an activity I picked up my senior year of high school. We would set up speakers in the dining hall and teach some guys how to partner. The activity caught on quickly and we soon had a large group of spectators and participants several evenings a week. Now that they have left, we hope to continue the dancing, but know that it won’t be the same. The evening Hilary and Natalie left, we decided that we were not saying an official “goodbye” because we are determined to see each other again next year.On Friday evening two of my roommates, Dorothea Muller and Melanie Langley, returned home as well. Melanie was only on the ship for four weeks, but every time a cabinmate leaves, the whole atmosphere of the cabin changes. It is sad to help pack up a per
son you have lived with for even a short amount of time. Dorothea was on the ship for three months, so she has been here the entirety of my stay so far. Dorothea and I got close in the midst of our whole Possotome trip/disaster several weeks ago. Since then, I have joined the small group she leads on a weekly basis. It will be different now having someone else lead our group, but it was so cool on Friday evening to see the entire small group at the bottom of the gangway to wish Dorothea back home to Switzerland. While walking up the gangway, the girl who is going to lead the group from now on declared “For this weeks small group – we all fly to Switzerland!!” Thankfully, since this is of course impossible, we still have Facebook to help stay in contact.
son you have lived with for even a short amount of time. Dorothea was on the ship for three months, so she has been here the entirety of my stay so far. Dorothea and I got close in the midst of our whole Possotome trip/disaster several weeks ago. Since then, I have joined the small group she leads on a weekly basis. It will be different now having someone else lead our group, but it was so cool on Friday evening to see the entire small group at the bottom of the gangway to wish Dorothea back home to Switzerland. While walking up the gangway, the girl who is going to lead the group from now on declared “For this weeks small group – we all fly to Switzerland!!” Thankfully, since this is of course impossible, we still have Facebook to help stay in contact.Two people from our Ghana trip also returned home this week. Throughout our trip to Ghana, our whole group grew really close, despite the big age differences. In the weeks since the trip, it has been really cool to have good friends outside of our age group, our group had become like a big family to each other. To then watch a small piece of that family leave the ship is hard. Belinda returned home to South Africa on Friday morning. I did not realize the time that she was leaving and ended up having to wave farewell in the middle of my morning run. On Saturday evening Tillman left for Germany. The night before he had given a farewell piano performance attended by a large group on the ship, then Saturday evening we said our final goodbye.
After saying farewell to so many people this week, it has begun to hit me how hard it will be in mid-December when nearly 50% of the crew ends their service with Mercy Ships. As a person who hates goodbyes, I am not looking forward to this time in the least bit. I have heard that the entire atmosphere of the ship changes when there is a huge turnover of crew. While I’m sure the new atmosphere will probably be just as wonderful as it is now, it is sad to know that such a big change is coming so soon. I realize now more than ever that I need to appreciate every day I have with my friends that are here now because the next 6 weeks will just fly by before must say goodbye to all but a few of them.
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