Well, Mollie left here two weeks ago to return to the US. I can't even figure out how to write about my feelings of her leaving. Mollie has been here since we arrived almost two years ago! She's been my friend, encourager, running partner, counselor, teacher, coach, sister, aunt to Emma, sanity-saver, and oh, the list goes on!! Life here would have looked very different (and worse) had she not been here for me. I AM SOOOOO GRATEFUL FOR HER!! I have not met a single person who does not love Mollie. She's one of those people who leaves a place better than it was before she entered. Horizontina and all of us here are better because she was here.
Mollie with some of the guys she worked with.
The children love Tia (Aunt) Mollie. While I'm sure most of those kids are sad that she's gone, I'm positive that Emma will miss her the most. I don't think Emma remembers life without Mollie. One of my earliest memories of being here was while I was potty-training Emma. We were at Mollie's house and Emma had to poop. For whatever reason, she ended up pooping in Mollie's yard. We considered ourselves family after that. Seriously, though, she has been the best aunt to Emma and having someone who's not family love my child as if she were family. . . well, that just makes me love her as a friend all the more!
This is our friend Monica. Mollie and I met Monica toward the end of last year, like maybe in September or October. She used to work at Deere, but opened her own spa a little over a year ago. On the recommendation of Barbara, I visited Monica for a massage. (Side note: I have pretty high expectations when it comes to massages. I need someone to DIG into my muscles and work out the knots!) Afterward, I called Mollie and told her she had to get to know this gal. We have had countless conversations about what an amazing massagista Monica is (especially because she uses her elbow to dig into our back muscles) and how we're going to take her back to the States with us!! Over the last few months, we've also come to know her as a friend. Sweet, sweet gal and very fun to be with.
Another great woman here is Cristiane. She does our manicure and pedicures and she's also just a really great woman to be with - always positive, smiling, encouraging and sweet! Her husband Alvaro likes to build things in his shop, so he and Kevin became immediate friends! Unfortunately, Kevin hasn't had a lot of free time to go play, so they haven't spent much time together. Hopefully, in the months to come, we'll get to see them more.
I'm so thankful for the people who have come into our lives just during our time here. By far, Mollie has had the greatest impact, for sure. Oh Mollie, how I'm going to miss our runs (long and short), our walks, our story-confession-encouragement time. I'm going to miss your company. Thank you for sharing life here with us!!
