It's So Hard to Say Goodbye

     So the last couple of weeks has been a time of goodbyes.  Watching a person leave or pass on is always hard, but when more than one person leaves us without a chance to say goodbye makes it even harder.  Here at Andre' House we see lots of faces come and go.  However, it still isn't easy.  Over the last couple of weeks we have had 2 of our guests at our transitional housing leave...neither one of them said goodbye.  The guests that stay in our houses become like family to us.  We eat dinner with them every night and we take turns staying with them on various nights.  For those of us who aren't from the Phoenix area, our community, volunteers, and guests become our family that we have left behind.  Both of these guests have been with us since March and we have gotten to know them very well.  One guest just didn't show up one day and the other thought we where going to ask her to leave so she just packed up and left with out telling anyone.  It's hard when things like this happen.  Even at our main facility, we notice when a regular guest all of a sudden stops showing up.  We want the best for our guests.  We want them to succeed.  However, when they suddenly disappear, we worry that the worst has happened.  Our guests most of the time have depended on themselves and try not to make to many friends so when it's time to move on, it's easier for them to leave.  I personally took it hard when our two guests left.  I grieved because of the way they left.  I was worried that something happened to them then I was angry that they left the way they did without saying goodbye.  I understand that with our ministry and the people we work with that this is the way they know, but it still hurt.  We have spoken to both of these guests over the weekend and both are safe.  A couple of our community members have also lost friends who have passed on.  It's hard to watch someone you love grieve the loss of a friend.  Friends also become family.  They laugh with you (or sometimes at you), they cry with and for you, and the really good ones help keep it real.  Loss of a really good friend is hard, but knowing that they are in the arms of our Creator is some comfort.


 "I  will spend my heaven doing good upon earth. I shall let fall from heaven a shower of roses. My work begins after death."  --St. Therese' of the Little Flower