We were able to catch Jen by phone this morning and talk to Jeronne as well. Jen sounded ready to face another day and Jeronne sounded really sad. I don't think she believes that we will come back. I assured her that we would and told her again that we think of her and pray for her multiple times a day.
Leaving on Wednesday night served to unify Troy and I on one thing. It confirmed in our hearts that we are not feeling peace about leaving long-term. It will be a while before we figure out what the options are and how we should proceed with the best interests of our tribe in mind. It was really good to find out we totally agree that the earthquake does not equal an immediate end to our wild Haiti ride. As we flew out and everyone else seemed kind of excited, we looked around to see that we were experiencing something unique as the only ones leaving our house, dog, friends, work, and life behind. The other folks on the plane had all worked in PAP and were also in need of healing but none of the others had the grief and complicated angles that we were juggling and feeling.
As we drove for 14 hours today we also realized that talking and thinking things through will be a long process and not something we can just check off our to-do list tomorrow. We are going to have to allow some time. That is probably not a news-flash to any of you... but I think we wanted to be all straight in the head and ready to roll by Monday. Yeah. Not so much. That won't be happening. Meeting with family for breakfast today we picked a few stories to tell and left a few thousand untold. I am hoping to get more of the stories in writing before they leave our memories.
We found this article about Collette (not Paulette) ... but close -
"A WALL fell on Paulette Caesar’s abdomen so hard that it cleaved her pelvis in two.
But the seven-month fetus in her womb somehow survived, even as her mother lay outside her ruined house, untreated, for six excruciating days in one of Port-au-Prince’s poorest ghettos. On Monday – at imminent risk of a fatal hemorrhage – Caesar’s fortunes took a radical change: taken not to a hospital but to a classroom, where she and her unborn baby found themselves in the hands of a team of world-class medical specialists found nowhere else in Haiti."
The classroom they are talking about is the Heartline sewing school classroom. The world class medical people are the Heartline volunteers.
:)
As we stood on the tarmac for quite a long time on Wednesday night three cool things happened.
1. We got to see Ernest and Ronel Parker sitting in a bus waiting to get on a c-130 and finally head home. Amazing.
2. We talked to a high ranking military guy about Collette and he knew exactly who we were talking about and confirmed that she is doing well and is still on the ship with baby Esther.
3. A message from North Dakota was delivered to Troy and I. By a person that I don't really know or understand how the message came through her to us -- but it was sweet and wonderful either way.
I was surprised by how angry I felt flying toward Florida. It kind of surprised me to be so mad and not even know at who or what my anger should be directed towards ... I don't want to get stuck in the angry stage of grief, but recognize a tendency in myself to do that. I think it just made me feel crazy (and guilty and mad) to have the option to fly out for a little rest and regrouping ... while thousands and thousands have no such option. It's not fair. I want fair.
