さようなら, Justus

Saturday, July 24, 2010

It was time to say goodbye to an old friend. Justus of Orange. He was leaving to teach English in Japan for two years. Collette always knew, as had everyone else who knew him, that he would do well with whatever he decided to do in life.

And his farewell party would take place that night as an open house.

First things first for the day:

Collette and Puck waited in the car while OLeif ran in to see to the license renewal for the car. Puck had a pen given to him from Grandma Combs the previous evening. While they waited…

“Look, Mama! I drew a picture of you on the ceiling!”

Over at the Silverpoon’s the grilling had already been done for the day. Chai tea, pico de gallo, and watermelon were also in the works.

After swing dancing the previous night, Izzy had had a passel of guys over for video games.

“Sodas, Starburst, M’nM’s…” Gloria said, perusing the remains. “Yup. Teenage boys. How late were you up last night?”

“Five or six,” came Izzy’s reply.

Several hours later, he left to paint the basement of a family from church. And then to a Lord of the Rings night at the English’s.

In the afternoon, Gloria read Strunk’s Elements of Style, which inspired her to get kids’ books about grammar from the library for Puck. Who knew such things existed?

Shortly after seven o’clock, to the Orange’s.

Magnus was also there. Old Blue and Cashmere. A whole posse of people from Grace Community, including Plato Buckle. And of course the rest of the Orange family, with Gad, who had a job working in the New Town area, and Evrain, who was looking great and was visiting Japan himself on his first mission trip there, just four days before Justus himself would leave.

It was good to see him one last time. The same old Justus. He never changed. In a world where change was rampant, it was good to see some people who kept the same, and in the good sort of way. Perhaps the most agreeable person anyone could know. But he was also honest. And that made the difference. Collette wished him all the best.

On the way home, lightening cracked across the sky. And the winds rushed in before the great rain. Beautiful.