Hey Jude: It's About The People

Dear Judith,

Tomorrow marks the four month anniversary of my leaving Saipan. In some ways, life's ease has increased as the time passed. I am not as constantly cold as I was on my return. I have begun to re-insert myself into society, the one which I left behind in my journey to...what did my year in Saipan accomplish? Perhaps that's for another blog. Perhaps I've already covered that topic to death, and you have discontinued your readership to avoid my repetitious sentiments. In any case, though some things have begun to seem normal again, I still find myself longing for the place that I left.

I was looking through the pictures of a current preschool teacher in Saipan, and I found something which I suppose I've always known. Saipan is beautiful. I miss the warm sun, the sparkling beaches, and the beautiful flowers, but none of those pictures really caught my attention or caused my eyes to fill with tears. However, when I saw pictures of the students who captured my heart and still hold it, I immediately had to look away, and still I could not fight back the tears. Just the thought of them, in a world so far away that I could not reach them if I tried sends me right back to the airport on my last night in Saipan.

I recall so keenly, sitting in a chair by the cafe in the airport, talking with Tali, Rhonda, Edna. I hadn't started to cry yet, and I was wondering if I even would. Then Edna said, "I know who Miss Jaimie will miss," and she began writing a student's name on my leg with her finger. That was all it took and I completely broke down.

I have since tried to mentally picture every child who was in my class during the course of the year, and so far, I haven't made it past the first name before I have to give up my task.

Saipan is a wonderful place, but I didn't fall in love with the island. I fell in love with the people: the people I worked with, the students I taught, the people I went to church with and learned from. Life isn't about where you are or even what you're doing. It turns out that it doesn't matter if you're in Oregon, or D.C., or even Ohio. It's about the people, and that's what I truly miss about Saipan.