My oldest daughter, Kirstin, is 23. Currently she works in the paint department at Home Depot, takes - and pays for - and ACES - college classes, and lives with her grandparents in Sarasota. This fall she'll take EMT training, so that she can get a better job (and also because she believes she'll enjoy the work), and then she hopes to move out on her own while continuing to pay for college as she goes through, without taking out any loans. This is Kirstin's normal life. Busy, but not all that interesting or unusual.
For a month, though, she came home to Honduras. She drove the Land Cruiser across rough mountain roads. She hiked and swam on our property, had to skirt hormonal bulls to get from her room to our main house, participated in an after-dark hunt through the woods for a turkey the dogs had chased off, administered medical care to the turkey, helped rig up a more secure turkey enclosure, learned how to work our tricky washing machine (this involves knowing what time of day we can get hot water off the roof, turning the water on and off at the pipe instead of the machine, and using the kitchen timer so as to avoid running water onto the floor), and enjoyed many other aspects of the less-than-normal side of her life that she lives in Honduras.
This morning Kirstin left for her return trip to Florida. She had a couple of stops to make locally, before heading to the airport, including stopping in at Russell's house to say goodbye to the part of the family that is in town working on the Pastor Training School today. She was also dropping off a turkey at a friend's house along the way. The last thing she did here, before leaving, was to examine the turkey for wounds, wrap it in a towel for travel, and carry it to the car.
I think it is just so fitting that we sent Kirstin off holding a live turkey on her lap. It was like we kept her living the odd, fun, never-know-what'll-happen-next Honduran part of her life until the last possible second until she had to go back to that dull life she leads in the US.
Bye Kirstin - we miss you!
3 comments:
I remember some blogs from a few years back, of Kirstin removing some worms from an animal of some sort. I'll think she'll make an excellent EMT! Of course she'll wonder why her patients are not too cooperative!
Well. glad it was a live turkey and not wild turkey, aka liquor in the US. That's not the double life we want for Kirstin. Glad she is doing well.
Aren't you so pleased with how your eldest has turned out? I just enjoyed being with Kirsten every time I was around her. And I agree she'll make a great EMT! Practical, level-headed, calm and beautiful. Great combo!
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