Thank you to everyone who prayed for me and my team as we traveled to Northern Ireland these past 3 weeks. We arrived safely home last night after a long, but uneventful trip. As the last leg of the journey wore on I got pretty emotional about the whole thing… It was sad how we all kept getting split up.
Saturday night we said goodbye to our Northern Irish teammates and Slada from Serbia after he BBQ.
Sunday morning at 4:15 AM we said goodbye to Joy and the Northern Irish who came to our all-night vigil. (As well as our NI leadership… Mad props to Allan Grier… That man in “class.”)
Sunday afternoon as we arrived in New York we bid farewell to most of our American teammates. I don’t know what it was, but I had a hard time saying goodbye to Casey and Allysa as they went towards their ticket counter and I split off with my team and Mary Beth to go to Detroit.
By 2:00 PM it was just the 9 of us. We were an emotional wreck. Tired, but couldn’t stop talking about all that had happened.
As we left JFK for Detroit we gathered in a little circle (which just hours ago had been 150!) and prayed for Mary Beth’s trip. We then boarded the last plane ride for the Romeo crew… Knowing that a large group of people awaited us in Detroit.
As the plane arrived at DTW 30 minutes late our parents and friends were quite anxious to see us. But can I share a secret? I don’t think any of the 8 of us were quite ready. We still wanted to hold onto Northern Ireland. So, we kind of stalled a little bit. The girls went potty, we checked on Mary Beth’s flight and prayed with her one more time… Then we boarded to “wee train” for the main terminal. Finally, after 21 days were were split up all the way down to 8 again.
We stalled a little as we rounded the last corner for the escalators to baggage claim. Deep breath… I could see Megan at the bottom of the escalator! With that, one of the most memorable times of my life came to a close.
Someone asked me… “How does it feel to be home?” I told them the truth… I have mixed emotions. I was ready to be home. But I miss my little team. They truly were my family for 2 weeks. Real World: 5mile was officially over.
We were whittled down again as LisaB took off as soon as her baggage arrived. Then Katie was gone. Then the last 6 of us jumped into the awaiting vans with all of our family. Again, I was struck by how quickly the team was cut down. There were only 2 of us in my van. Dawn and I.
It took an hour or so to get to Romeo from the airport. As my head pounded from a sleep deprivation headache… I was anxious and not anxious to get home. Still holding on to the trip we got there. 7800 West 32 Mile Road.
We were narrowed down to 1 as my family piled into the Camry and drove home. Now I am home… Starting to sort out in my mind all that took place… Trying to make sense of it all… Trying to hold onto an experience that will last a lifetime.
Dear Lord, don’t let that be my last trip to Northern Ireland or Fivemiletown. Amen.
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