Special Afternoon

 I was at her house drinking coffee and about to eat a delicious cake from Paris Baguette on a nice plate, when I realized this is a special moment. We are both in the same place- transitioned from our jobs and anticipating the next steps. Both in higher education programs and embracing what the next season looks like. 

We are both having the coffee and the cake together that she served at her house, and I feel welcomed. Her hospitality is inviting and her listening ears and support, a treasure. We have both left a season that 'looked the same' for years. We both endured hard, long and many mundane moments at our job. She questioned her path and what was next for her in order to keep growing, learning and thriving, and I also questioned what was next for me these past years. 

Our birthdays are one week and 2 days apart, right in the beginning of summer. We both enjoy working with students and being in education. She is Korean and studied German and got her Masters in Germany. My heritage is German, and I am currently now (slowly) learning Korean. 

As I sip my coffee and eat my cake, I realize this is a special moment of celebration. We have finished out and endured another school year, and on to something else. I feel that I have been stretched and grown these last weeks, and the last time I was at her house was the last day of school. I feel differently now and have grown in my own way. Last year, in late July, I came over to her house for the first time, and now looking back over these seasons, life has been happening and changing.

I feel that we have gotten closer because we can share the hard parts, the doubts and the unknowns. We have known each other at our job for 4 years, and she was my only true friend and contact there. Our faith has also been a life force, and a way of connecting- her in her Chirstian faith, and me in my Catholic faith. 

So, we ate cake, drank coffee, talked and went for a walk. What gratitude in sharing these memories over the years and seeing what lies around the corner.