David drove me back to Lincoln the
next morning. I talked to him about my feelings and mom’s response and he did
his best to comfort me. “That’s just mom.” “You know how she is.” “She doesn’t
mean anything by it.” Etc.
Since I always lived the furthest
away from home, I was often the one attempting to explain my mother to the
others, especially David. As an adult, he had lived the closest to mom and dad
and was the one who cared for them. If they needed anything repaired, he or one
of his two boys were over that day to fix it. Yet mom never appreciated what
they did and complained about how slow they were or neglectful they were to her
needs. The only one she ever praised was our youngest brother. We all knew that
he was the only one who continued to “need” her, even as an adult. He was also
the one who took advantage of her. She would give him anything she had and
often to her own loss.
I understood. Yes that’s the way
it was. But it was another of lives loses that I was dealing with. I was very
quiet on the drive to Colorado and I finally got talked into explaining my
situation. Talking it out made coping easier.
It was beautiful the whole week in
Colorado. I enjoyed every moment knowing this would be my last CBC event.
We preformed Adrift in a smaller
auditorium probably more than once. We had our own space each night for our
comedy routines. Packed the room out every night. The group would perform along
paths leading to the auditorium and dining halls entertaining people as they
waited. The Portrait Players were a smash hit. I was so very proud of all they
did and who they were.
I slipped in to watch some
quizzing and to see my friends from the South Pacific, the Rouses. I no longer
knew any of their quizzers. I knew more quizzers from Canada, but even that was
small. I had been on the sidelines for a few years and was out of circulation.
There was a young man named Daryl Smithgall quizzing with the Pacific Northwest
District. He knew I was on my way to their area. He told everyone that I was
coming and built me up to a reputation I doubted I could ever achieve. He knew
because his father was a member of the District Executive Committee (DEXCOM)
and dad told him of my move.
From Colorado it was back to
Regina and a round of farewells. I was becoming melancholy. I was excited about
the move, but knew I was leaving things I would never again experience. My
great Regina love for drama would likely come to an end. No more Portrait
Players.
Back in Regina as we were all
parting ways a Portrait Player made a comment I have never forgotten and never
heard before. They wished they had not been a Portrait Player and regretted the
whole experience. While surprised, I thanked them for sticking with me for the
year and not walking out and wished them the best. If they intended to crush my
spirit, they succeeded. It was a hard note on which to end my CBC career.
The next couple of weeks were
spent packing and saying goodbye. United Van Lines came and packed our
breakables and two days later loaded our things to take to Oregon. We had
contacted immigration several times as our visa’s had not yet come though. We
were coming down to the wire and really needed them. We finally decided we had
to go and asked them to transfer the paper work to Vancouver for finalization.
We had to leave.
We spend our last night with Bill
and Anna Rose before going on to Red Deer to see Merla and Della’s family. From
there we headed down through Sandpoint and the closer we got to the border the
harder we prayed that there would not ask a question we could not answer
honestly. I did not want them to ask, “How long do you expect to stay?” I could
not say permanently as my family did not have visas. They never asked. We were
through and on our way to Oregon.
We had no idea how much we would
miss our Canadian friendships. Some would be maintained, but most would fade
away. That is a normal life transition. I loved working with the Christian and
missionary Alliance, but my connections were all in Canada and the countries
were in the process of separating organizationally. I wouldn’t even have the
once a year contact at general council. I was once again an American.
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