a lament for lost time

July 24, 2006 - Monday

7:31 PM - a lament for lost time The title of this is all wrong. It's not a lament, merely an ode to time passed, a time past. A few minutes ago, I emerged from a cold-induced sleep, all sniffly nosed, to look up insurance information, knowing that when my official August 5th graduation hits I'll need a plan to cover me until I get a so-called real job at that unforeseeable day in the future. My AmeriCorps supervisor, the amazing Audrey (you know you can vouch for her), had notified us long ago about a really cheap plan we'd be eligible for, and my goal was to find the original email in which she mentioned this insurance. What I found instead was that I was swept up into a pleasant wave of memories, a world in which I accumulated service hours gleefully, working my way towards my required 1700 and not really wanting to do much work unless it would help garner more credit towards that ultimate goal. There were emails among Piroska, Liz, and me as we sat around during break time at work (for me, time in the summer when my kids wouldn't show up)--hilarious emails. Lots of emails from Audrey in which we planned when and where to meet for our downtown Delray Beach lunches. I had forgotten about my strolls around beautifully landscaped Delray Beach, where I'd take my hour or so to use my under-the-poverty-line income (which seemed like riches) to buy myself a smoothie at Nutrition Cottage and then wander around the art store, staring at the pens so intensely that they probably had their security cameras homed in on me. When I lived in Florida for AmeriCorps, it was my entire life; it was so hard to keep in touch with anyone outside of the program because each minute of my day was taken up with AC activities and events and (god help us) drama. Maybe I spent so much time during that year being fully absorbed in it that I don't have as much of a need to look back on it as frequently. Reading those everyday emails just took me back to another world certainly did bring a happy tear to my eye, however, while also reminding me of this everyday life I have in Athens may one day seem faraway and distant. For now, let's live it up. Tonight's Tapey's & Kyle's last Team Social Work as full-time residents. I will not focus on the utter sadness of this and instead get my first shower in many, many, many hours.