Home from Togo (Part 1) - Briana Thomas

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Friday, Sept 19, our last day in Mango

It was a full day. A good day. In it we packed as many special things as possible, savoring the last moments. It had been my goal to get everything packed by Thursday so that Friday we could just breathe and spend time with our people. Ryan had spontaneously decided to spend Friday in the hospital working – one last hurrah. So 8am took us to our weekly Moms in Prayer meeting, always such a special time. We got home and had an impromptu tea party with tea bags donated by Aunt Bethany. After that we went to see the rabbits, always a favorite attraction. I had been stockpiling cardboard boxes on the back porch for a fire “some day.” The some day never happened, in large part due to the fact that fires are not particularly desirable in 90* weather. But we carted the whole caboodle to the back yard, lit them on fire, and found a few twigs with which to roast our remaining three marshmallows (singeing some eyebrows in the process, as they were short twigs). In the afternoon after naps we went to the pool with friends, as we often did on Friday afternoons, and it was a special time of just “being.” Goodbyes hanging in the air, but left unsaid.

Rafi’s two favorite pastimes: riding this little truck around ^^ and crawling around in the flowedbeds:

Saturday, Sept 20, early morning departure

Everyone gathered in front of our duplex while the van was loaded with our belongings for the drive down to Lomé. This time the fanfare was for us. I prefer to be a spectator, one of the ones for whom life will continue on as normal, with duties waiting after the goodbyes are said. A little blip of sadness, and then a flatline of normalcy. But this morning I was the one putting on a brave face, pretending like life wasn’t being torn apart, knowing that their lives would continue while my foot was hovering over an abyss of unknown.

We hugged, someone prayed, I said no goodbyes. Only “À la prochaine” – until next time.

Our all-day drive south to the capital city went fairly well, despite starting out with several hours of rough roads and several of us feeling queasy. Hadassah did throw up but thankfully was able to give us enough warning to find a bag! Eventually we found smoother roads and the children seemed to be lulled into a stupor by the unfamiliar feeling of being in a moving vehicle. (We hardly went anywhere for a whole year!) We napped, we ate snacks, and we managed to take only one bathroom break until right before Lomé.

Memory: coming into Lomé we were stopped in traffic at a red light and a hopeful windshield washer was making his rounds among the cars. Annoyed motorists flicked their wipers irritably, telling him to bug off. Gotta hand it to him – he was pretty resourceful.

“I’m Jonah!” she said.

our life going into boxes again:

my favorite orange lantanas in front of our house in the most beautiful African golden hour:

For my friends in Mango:

Don’t make me say goodbye.
Pretend that everything will go on as before.
I take you with me in my heart,
And I leave a piece of me with you.
Continue your work, as I continue mine.
Maybe we will reconvene here,
Or maybe later – up There.
You’ll tell your story,
And I’ll tell mine.
They will be different,
But I’ll always remember that time
They intertwined.

potty breaks, bare feet, bright flowers, and blue skies

We finally arrived at the hotel right on the beach with its view of the only deep-water port in West Africa. The children immediately scattered, thrilled to be done driving, while I tried to keep them from drowning – or doing damage to the already-threatened sand dunes – by turns. Later we found the same playground they had used a year earlier, and being a year bigger they threw themselves at it with even greater joy.

I was pleasantly reminded just how much language and culture I had imbibed over the past year as I wrapped my wandering toddler onto my back with a pagne so I would have one less child to wrangle and greeted everyone I passed in French. This time last year it had taken me several minutes to realize that the workers were saying, “Bonsoir, Madame,” and that “bonjour” was probably not the correct response.

How we all felt about getting out of the van after spending all day on the road!

Our 10 hour flight on Sunday went as well as a 10 hour flight could go with 3 children. It was relatively uneventful, praise the Lord, but we were all ready to get off the plane! Thankfully we were able to recheck all of our 9 totes before going to our hotel, otherwise we probably would have been spending the night in the airport. As it was, we were able to take hot showers and sleep in comfortable beds, and boy were we grateful (albeit very, very tired because we didn’t get to bed until 2am Togo time!). It was back on the plane the next morning, but with our totes already checked in we felt free. 1 hour and 40 minutes feels like a walk in the park after 10 hours, and in no time we were meeting up with all of our luggage again. My dear aunt-who’s-not-really-my-aunt came and picked us up and drove us to a furnished house that she and her husband had recently fixed up and offered to us during our stay in Cleveland while we collected our vehicles (left there from the summer before) and got our ducks in a row.

They had filled the cupboards…and even put Der Dutchmans maple-frosted creamsticks in the freezer. (iykyk) Wow – what a blessing! Hadassah went straight to the drawing supplies, and the boys spent hours with the little toy barn, hauling little animals with their tractors. When we got tired of being inside we went outside and found some concrete blocks that reminded us of Togo and made a little house. Ryan’s parents came down from Canada for a quick visit while we were so “close” (because 7 hours sure beats 17).

click here to see Hadassah in the same dress in the airport a year earlier!

We enjoyed being able to see some friends while in Ohio, although we unfortunately weren’t able to reach around to everyone. Being jetlagged and travel weary and anticipating the drive from Cleveland to Omaha the following week, we weren’t trying super hard. But those 10 days in Ohio were a nice breather – a refresher before moving into a new house and trying to create a new life. I’m so grateful for the generosity that made it so sweet.