In Which We Play At Being Orphlings

A 25-year anniversary...

Five days....

Eight kids on their own...

(Well, some of us are no longer kids)

A cold in the head...

A toddler that should be weaned but still nurses a couple times a day for comfort's sake...

A camera...

An "empty" house...

Sneezing/coughing/stuffynose...

May I reiterate the "Five Days" thing?...

Oh yes. 

This is the life of the Heffington kids this weekend. We are going to be baching it here while Mama and Dad celebrate their 25th with their first trip away (without a baby in tow) since they had Daniel, almost 23 years ago! I am looking forward to this weekend and the funny videos we plan to shoot. It's going to be amazing! I am dosing my cold with cinnamon-and-honey and PG Tips, so here's hoping it withers away quickly! We've got fun things planned and of course I know my uncle and aunt are right across the field so if I need any adult help I've got it. But I think we'll be just fine, and it's kinda fun playing The Boxcar Children for a whole week. Keep your eyes out for any videos that make it through production! ;)

no need to say goodbye.

Now we're back to the beginning

It's just a feeling and no one knows yet

But just because they can't feel it too

Doesn't mean that you have to forget.

Let your memories grow stronger and stronger

'Til they're before your eyes

You'll come back when they call you

No need to say goodbye.

-Regina Spektor "The Call"

I have come home. It is so good to see little faces and give kisses eight times a day to each chubby cheek, and pull Grace onto my lap or ruffle Levi's hair. It's good to be eating homemade food again, it's good to sleep in my own bed, it's good to talk with Sarah after getting in our pajamas. It's good to be with home-people, speaking of home-things, seeing home-sights...Georgia's pretty but Virginia's gorgeous. Just sayin'. ;) Abigail Taylor came up Thursday night after we got home, so I haven't had a long time to get Campaign-sick yet. She's amazing enough herself. <3

We also ended up getting together a group of home-people that I hadn't seen for at least a month, which was so much fun! We went to see the newest Batman movie, and (after I got over my temporary theatre-fear :P) I really enjoyed it! The themes of heroism, courage, and A Tale of Two Cities will be discussed in a different post. Suffice it to say, I liked it very well. :)

But despite all these things, I will admit it that a sensation of Missing Them is lurking, and I didn't expect that. :D I miss my guys and girls that I spent such a long, eventful month with. It's crazy how quickly you grow close to people when you are working together with a common purpose, a common goal, and sharing the same life. :] Thankfully I expect to see a good many of them again someday--homeschooling, Christian, political circles just aren't that cavernous, and I am fast becoming a believer in the 6-degrees-of-separation idea. I mean really, I just discovered that I'm two degrees away from Michael Phelps! (A friend's cousin is Brandon Hansen--a guy on the US Olympic swim-team which means he would know Michael. :)

I have had so.many.memories on this Georgia trip, and though we did not win the election, I cannot in any way say it was a waste. Not when I flip through  my mental scrapbook. Not when I picture Autumn giggling or John laughing, or Zach's happy-dance. Not when I remember the many sighs and laughs and exclamations, or all the thousand-and-one stories of going door-to-door.
These people have made indelible prints on this summer of memories, and I hope I will linger in their thoughts awhile. :) I know they've effected me!

I'll never again eat Skittles without remembering Wyatt Fairlead.

I'll never smell Axe without recalling the Axe-opinion war I waged with Micah.

I'll never hear the words "Eagle-stare" without remembering my first day with Autumn.

And I'll never ever ever hear anything about 6-packs without thinking of Katie. 

Even though the girls we had were few and far between, I got to be great friends with Katie Frost, Autumn B, Bridget, and Mamie Carlstrom. You girls were awesome, and when you were around we had larks by the bucket-load. I love you! <3

But a huge thank-you goes out to my hotel boys. These dozen or so guys made life as the only girl at the hotel simply amazing. The surprise birthday party...the literary discussions...the anticipation over Olympic events....you've spoiled me, guys. You were such gentleman that I really am missing you majorly.

I actually had to open a door by myself...two of you were always there to do it in Georgia. 

Since coming home I've kinda lost my Royal Retinue...I always had a pod of 3 or 4 of you wherever I went. It was fun being your Queen. :)

I'll have to look for fashion in the Belk-ads now...Jere and Stephen, you definitely gave us some laughs.

I've gone back to doing laundry at home...Nystrom boys...you'll have to get your own laundry soap from now on. ;)

Russell...no one can sleep as deep as you. Period.

Ian...Bumble-bee kilts and you are forever paired in my mind.

I now know a deal about loose-leaf tea, Southern soul-food, Pentatonix, Kansas, and why I don't run marathons. Thanks, Zach. :)

Elijah...you with the face. That's all.

Justin...you make a splendid Puddleglum, even when you're cross. And you can run like nobody's business. You and Zach should race sometime.

I just wanted to let you guys know how much getting to know you blessed me. :) You turned what could have been a lonely, drab hotel time into a grand and glorious hullaballoo. You were entirely awesome and I'm still smiling over my month. And thank you, Jesus, for bringing our amazing team together. Thank You for blessing us with Your grace and letting us bring You glory, even through what we see as a defeat. You are amazing, God. :)

A Poem for you... :)

Here's a poem I wrote today. :) The first two lines popped into my head directly after I was rudely awakened by a sunbeam in the car on the way home from a fabulous morning and afternoon of Black Friday shopping. :) (And on that note, who in tarnation needs to be making trouble to have fun? My older brother, my cousin, Sarah, and I, had a  blast together...the most outlandish thing we did was sing "On the Street Where You Live" at the top of our lungs in the Town Center of Virginia Beach...but that's another story. :P Anyway, enjoy the poem!

 

"Carmen Ante Domum"

(Song Before Home)

 By Rachel Heffington

Home is just over the next green hill

And my journey's last mile before me still--

Home before, and the road behind,

And a balancing moment within my mind...

Home, 'tis so pleasant to know the place

Remembers me still with its homely face.

Home, with her orchards and fields and her lane

Beckoning me with her smiles again.

But the Road, gypsy-mile'd and wild and free,

With echoes and wind-voices calls out to me:

"Remember the paths we have tread, you and I;

The lure of unknown and a clear, open sky!"

Pausing, I stand with the Road at my back,

And stretching before me the dear, homeward track.

A kiss to the journey, a laugh to the wind,

And onward, my heart full of wistfulness send.

"It Takes a Heap O' Livin'"

Here is a poem that has grown close to my heart through the years...it was especially relevant to me during our 2-year sojourn at a house situated in what we called "The Red Zone". We had our fair share, during those years, of witnessing drive-by shootings, drug deals, and other sad activities. Yet the Lord blessed our time there and we were able to be a city on a hill that could not be hidden.

"It Takes a Heap O' Livin'"

Edgar A. Guest

It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t'make it home,

A heap o' sun an' shadder, an' ye somtimes have t'roam

Afore ye really 'preciate the things ye lef' behind,

An' hunger for 'em somehow, with 'em allus on yer mind.

It don't make any difference how rich ye get t'be,

How much yer chairs an' tables coast, how great yer luxury;

It ain' a hom t'ye, thought it be the palace of a king,

Until somehow yer soul is sort o' wrapped round everything.

Home ain't a place that gold can buy or get up in a minute'

Afore it's home there's got t'be a heap o' livin' in it;

Within the walls there's got t'be some babies born, and then

Right there ye've got t'bring 'em up t'women good, and' men;

And gradjerly, as time goes on, ye find ye wouldn't part

With anything they ever used--they've grown into yer heart:

The old high-chairs, the play things, too, the little shoes they wore

Ye hoard; an' if ye could ye'd keep the thumb-marks on the door.

Ye'eve got t'weep t'make it home, ye'eve got t'sit an' sigh

An' watch beside a loved one's bed, an' know that Death is nigh;

An' in the stillness o' the night t'see Death's angel come

An' close the eyes o' her that smiled, an' leave her sweet voice dumb.

For these are scenes that grip the heart, an' when yer tears are dried,

An' tuggin' at ye always are the pleasant memories

O' her that was an' is no more--ye can't escape from these.

Ye've got to sing an' dance fer years, ye've got t'romp an' play,

An' learn t'love the things ye have by usin' 'em each day;

Even the roses round the porch must blossom year by year

Afore they 'come a part o' ye, suggestin' someone dear

Who used t'love 'em long ago, an' trained 'em just t'run

The way they do, so's they would get the early mornin' sun;

Ye've got to love each brck an' stone from cellar up t'dome;

It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t'make it home."