is not so very happy that this guy...
will be leaving for South Africa on her 11th birthday.
This other guy, the mischievous looking one there on the left?
I'm not sure he's going to miss the big guy quite as much.
Not really. We're all going to miss him terribly. A whole, whole, whole, whole lot.
But, we're glad he's going. And can't wait to hear all about his first encounter with a rhino. And Charlize Theron.
He flies out Aug. 30 and arrives in Johannesburg two days later. Where he'll stay for two whole years.
And call his mother four times: Christmas Day 2011, Mother's Day 2012, Christmas Day 2012, Mother's Day 2013.
Four times.
In two years.
On those four days? Don't be looking for me. I'll be staring at my phone, waiting for it to ring. Then, after it rings and I hear him say, "Hey, Mama!" and talk to him for awhile? Yeah, after that, I'll be in a puddle in a quiet room making a mess out of a whole box of tissues. Fair warning.
Dear Karlie, I'm sorry that your Mom will be a bawling mess for your birthday and the next two years' worth of Christmases and Mother's Day. A nice pretty thing in a pale blue box from a certain jeweler in New York just might cheer me up. Love, Mama
(Don't worry, we get to email weekly. I'll be fine. I'm sure he'll be fine, too. For Pete's sake, he'll be in South Africa, what'll he care? And, that's as it should be.)
Love from the farm,
Teri
(P.S. Also don't worry. Tanner's curly-Q mohawk is history. Praise the electric razor. Amen.)
Wow - what an adventure! I hope he writes about it. I traveled extensively and thought I'd remember most of it, but the detail start to cross over each other, so it's great to jot down his sights, weird happenings and impressions with location details. I hope he takes a journal with him. This is incredibly exciting. I'd be a puddle of tears as well after each call and on certain miss the kiddo kind of days. He sounds very brave!
ReplyDeleteLana
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