The day I moved away from Michigan many things were running through my mind. As I took my last look at my home, I remembered all the fun times my family and friends had in that house throughout my life. Now I was moving to Pennsylvania to a boarding school and my family was going to Saudi Arabia I had no insight in what lay ahead for me. I looked out the window wondering what my new school would be like and if my friends would replace me with new ones. I wondered how I would adjust to everything. During the whole drive to the airport, my mom often let me know that everything would be alright and that I would like it. ‘Then the thought struck me that I wouldn’t see my family for several months. They were going to a different country thousands of miles from where I would be. That was an even bigger problem than making new friends. Trying to be strong and hold back my tears, I wondered why they had to move so far away. Life would be so different for me now. Adjusting to a new atmosphere with new people, and living so far away from my family would definitely have a huge impact on my life.
We reached the airport and I knew it was almost time to say goodbye to my family, I thought to myself, I can’t do this! I stepped out of the van. Everything around me seemed to be slowly starting to melt. It seemed that I was about to melt down myself, so there would be only a small puddle of glue-like substance left on the ground. I was walking very slowly. My head felt huge and heavy, and every muscle in my body was sore. My arms and legs were barely responding to the signals my brain was sending to them. It felt like a slow-motion horror movie, only it was happening live. I slowly opened the back door of the van to help unload luggage. I reached for a suitcase, no success, I couldn’t lift it. I turned around, leaned against the side of the van, and slowly slid to the ground. I felt faint. My head was spinning. I was so thirsty I forgot about everything else for seconds only. I had to pull myself together. My oldest brother reached out his hand to help me up. I took it almost grudgingly. He put his arm around me. At least he will be at boarding school with me, I thought to myself.
I closed my eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and opened them. I looked at my dad. He was leading the way into the airport. He was always the great leader and at all times seemed to know what he was doing. My two little brothers each pulled their suitcase along behind them; they seemed excited to be moving. My sister had a sad expression on her face. I know she would miss all her friends and would also have a bit of a struggle moving to a new environment. I couldn’t bring myself to look at my mom. I knew I would start crying if I did. Then I would make her cry. I know she would miss me just as much as I would miss her. I felt like I had a huge empty spot in my heart, I felt very lonely inside.
We all were now sitting in the waiting room my family was about to board the plane. We all sat there not really knowing what to say. The silence was unnatural. Then the loudspeaker broke the silence. It said, “Lufthansa is now boarding flight 101,” that was my family’s flight number. We all stood up. My dad gave me a big bear hug and said some words that I didn’t pay attention to. My sister gave me a hug and I saw a tear fall down her cheek. My two little brothers hugged me at once and rushed off excitedly. Then my mom wrapped her arms around me. I wished she would never let me go. There was nothing like a mother’s hug. I couldn’t hold back my tears for the third time I caught myself thinking that this was just a bad dream. I still remembered my mom’s words as she was hugging me, “Honey I love you more than anyone in this world, but just remember that even though I am leaving you, you still have your heavenly Father who loves vou even more than I do, and he will never leave you, never.” Then she let go and with loving, teary eyes looked at me and smiled.
I didn’t even see her as she turned and walked away, my vision was to blurry from crying. My body still felt very much sore, and I could vividly feel the pain. Having no clue of what else, except the pain, could help me distinguish between dreaming and reality, I had to accept the fact that I was living this nightmare for real. I felt like the world had died out, everything had stopped and, somehow, I was forgotten here all alone. But again my brother put his arm around me. I wasn’t alone. My brother would be with me and of course my heavenly Father. I had to be strong like my mom was. I managed a weak smile and thought to myself- even though moving away from my family would have a huge impact on my life I know I would be able to do it because I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me!
