The Last Day

Trey Smith

This past Monday was supposed to be the last day. It was supposed to signify the end of a six month period of civic-minded volunteering. It was supposed to be a day filled with of a mixture of sadness, happiness and relief.

But Monday was none of these things. It was just a day.

You see, back in January, we thought that Monday (July 15) would be Della's last day of service at the Head Start Center in White Salmon. It would mark the end of 6 months apart and, if she had lined up another AmeriCorps opportunity, the beginning of a new shared adventure together.

Unbeknownst to us in January, the pivotal day would not be July 15; it would be March 26. That is the day Della was admitted to the hospital with acute respiratory failure. By April 1, everything had changed. July 15 no longer held any unique significance.

This is but one example in a sea of examples. Every human life experiences changes of these sorts. Our expectations line up one way and life goes off in another. When this happens -- it happens frequently -- a person has one of three choices.

1. You can try to force reality to meet your expectations, though this strategy rarely proves successful;
2. You can lament the change and get all tied up in knots blaming kismet, karma, fate or dumb luck; or
3. You can accept the change for what it is and move on from there.

Basically, we have opted for choice #3 with some brief glances at choice #2!  

We certainly aren't where we thought we would be this week, but we are where we are.  In the end, wherever you are at any given moment is where you must start before taking your next step.