I Hate Goodbyes....(This Post Dedicated to Keith)

As stated in my entry below, Keith left the LUC today. He had to leave the program a few weeks early because he is leaving for Germany next week (for another year of service). Today was a sad day. I am really not good with goodbyes. Here are some recent pictures of Keith - rockin' the bass at Andrea's concert last week (oh yeah, I don't know if I have mentioned on here that my housemate Andrea has been playing at a local coffee shop on Wednesday nights this summer, tomorrow won't be the same!) And the other is a rather artistic picture I took almost on accident the other night. I love it.

I decided my theme song for the past year is "Seasons of Love" from Rent. I have listened to it several times today (actually I am listening to it right now) I have truly had a wonderful year and am sad to see it end. We still have three weeks left of the program, but Keith leaving early makes things weird and caused me to feel sentimental earlier. Things won't be the same without a male in the house! I was sad enough when Ben left, but this is harder since Keith was around a lot more and actually a member of the LUC. I consider this past year possibly the best year of my life. College was great, but I guess what they say is not true and I have plenty more "best" years to come! I have been blessed with a wonderful job, church, coworkers, friends, and housemates this past year. I am so glad I decided to do a year of voluntary service and I cannot believe it is coming to an end! This year flew by. I am glad I am sticking around in Louisville to attend grad school so I do not have to say goodbye to everyone that has made this past year a great one. But there are still several goodbyes to come....in addition to my housemates, I am losing some great coworkers and friends. But there will be new friends soon enough and I hope to keep in touch with everyone.

Friday made me feel extremely sentimental about my past year working at Americana. We were supposedly having a staff meeting, but instead it was a "party" for Shavaun and I to celebrate our year of service. Shavaun's Americorp term ends next week and then she will be going to grad school in Nashville. I will miss her greatly. Anyways, we had cake and my coworkers made both of us cry with the nice things they said and the cards they gave. We have really been through a lot this past year and it was definitely a learning experience. They recognized that without us, there would have been no summer program for the kids which is a crazy thought to me. We both received $500 for our efforts (which I was very excited about). Shavaun said this was the best year of her life and it will be hard to find another job and coworkers that measures up to Americana. I agree -which is why I am not leaving! I guess you can say I found my calling there, which is why I am now going to school in social work. And Americana is the main reason I decided to stay in Louisville for it. I am glad I will be staying there at least another year, if not more!

One more thing I don't think I have mentioned on here - this is no Louisville Urban Corps next year! This was only the second year of the program and they had trouble getting applicants. It is rather sad. They will be doing a year of "restructuring" and try for the next year I guess, if possible. I was looking forward to meeting the new group, but there will be none. Well I had a great experience with the LUC and hope that it starts back up again someday. I still have three more weeks of it to enjoy (minus Keith) and before I know it I will be in school. Classes start August 21. Yikes!!