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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: In and Out (04/30/09)

TITLE: Third Culture Kid
By Lauren Dahl
05/02/09


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I like traveling. I like seeing new people and new places. But sometimes I get so sick of it! Because it isn’t new people and places anymore; it’s the same old people, the same old places and we only ever seem to stay long enough to make the good-byes hurt.

Getting off the plane I see them: Grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousins. They’re all smiling and waving. “We’re so glad to see you!” And I’m glad too.

Six months later we’re leaving, saying good-bye to them. I don’t want to cry anymore. I wish I could give them the tears they deserve, but if I do I’m afraid I’ll fall apart. So I smile and tell them how much I’ll miss them. I feel guilty slipping back into their lives like this knowing full well I’d be slipping out again so soon.

Getting off the plane at the other end there is no one to meet us and some of our luggage is missing. I wonder if I let them go too easily, if perhaps I should have let them in deeper so that good-bye left more than scratches on my heart, something to remember them by.

Of course there are people over here too. Most of them are gone right now, but when they come back I’ll fade into their lives and they’ll fade into mine like nothing happened. Maybe I’ll even make new friends, though I’ll be sure to keep the knots loose so that I won’t run the risk of strangling myself when I leave.

Fade in, fade out. We’re like wanderers restlessly traveling the globe. Oh, I don’t mean to say it’s not for a good reason or that I don’t enjoy the full life I lead. It’s just that the ships must sometimes envy the trees their roots, even as trees envy the ships’ freedom. But ship or tree, mast or branch, we are all straining upward toward the same goal. And we know that there is a place where we’ll never have to fade in or out again.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus!


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This article has been read 319 times
Member Comments
Member Date
Jan Ackerson 05/11/09
I felt like this just scratched the surface; I wanted to know more about your circumstances, why you travel and relocate so often, etc. It was well-written, but a little but frustrating.
Sunny Loomis 05/12/09
We're rooted in Jesus. Good job.
Josiah Kane05/13/09
Wow. Does this sound familiar or what? I have lived in 3 countries, attended 9 schools, and made and lost uncountable friends. So for some strange reason I found myself relating quite easily to this story. It really reads like it was written by a TCK. Thanks
Daniel Kane05/18/09
Just like my brother, I can really relate to this. Planting roots, getting uprooted, never really settling in; it gets so tiring. Thanks for sharing this. If you'd like to get in touch, you can contact us through our website at http://kane.elim-moz.org


   
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