And the Journey Continues: June 2011

Monday, June 27, 2011

Don't cry because it's over........

Matheus says goodbye to Hershey:(

Today was a very hard day…..we said good-bye to our boy. We had to drop him off in Huntersville this morning at about 10:30 am. On the way to Huntersville....we videotaped an interview with him about his exchange experience....I had a list of questions I had come up with and he answered them for me.....it is something we will ALWAYS treasure!

Matheus and Marco were the last ones to arrive and it was very rushed. Matheus didn’t have his luggage tags so he had to complete them when we got there. He had to text his mom to get the right zip so it was a little franic. All the other kids were inside a gym there at the church and just a couple of volunteers were out in the entryway where we were. Nigel, Nyles and Ellen were there and Ellen asked if she could go inside to say good-bye to Daniel…..a kid from Austria that stayed with her and her boys a lot throughout the year. The volunteers from AFS would not allow her to go inside but sent someone in to get Daniel and bring him out so she could say goodbye to him. We hugged Matheus and took one last pic together but it was SOOO hard....not just for us as Ellen was in tears there at the church.

A lot of the other kids were out there also so there wasn’t an opportunity to really talk to him….he texted us later in the day saying that the time was going by slowly as they were scheduled to stay there until 4 PM. They were supposed to go through some type of orientation to assist them in dealing with the goodbyes….but we had no information about this orientation….I had wished there was such an orientation for us as it was very difficult. I cried all the way home and my hubby shed some tears also. We are really going to miss this kid. What am I going to miss the most…his humor….his smile….his energy…..he is such a great kid….he brought SOOO much joy into our lives this past year…..more than I could ever express. It has been a GREAT experience! He promised he would keep in touch but we all know how life is….we will just have to make extra effort NOT to lose touch! Both Tommy and I wrote something to him….but told him not to read it until later….as we didn’t want to break down in front of him….but we wanted him to know how we felt. I also sent a card to his mom….in an attempt to express my gratitude to her for sharing her youngest boy with us.

My wonderful husband had such an awesome way of reminding me not to be sad....he kept telling me not to be sad that it is over but be happy that it happened! :) I LOVE that man!

Hugging dad goodbye:(:(

Even my boys shed some tears this sad day:(

Our last pic together:(

Nyles and Matheus say good-bye.

Ellen says good-bye to Matheus.

I'm going to miss that smile. :(

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Last Day

Today was a bittersweet day....first the sentimental gesture at church with the gift the family gave Matheus to take home with him and then the lunch with friends. Then Matheus had to come home and pack as he had not even started packing yet. He worked really hard and used good strategy to get it all put in the 3 suitcases he had along with his ski bag as he packed a lot of soft stuff around his skis. He also put a couple of pairs of shoes in the ski bag as well.

Karen Beane came by to say good-bye to him just briefly.

Hershey tried to sneak into his bag.....ha.

Bryson came by and spent about 15 minutes with Matheus....they even chatted with Claudia via the computer. Bryson gave him a picture of them together with the Deamon Decon in a frame. Bryson says he is going to go and see Matheus in Brazil and that he already has the money saved up for the trip.

Handsome man!

Lacey and Julie came over later and they brought a friend of theirs from Germany....the cutest little girl.....they hung with us for a couple of hours....we laughed and chatted and had a great time....after they left, we had dinner and watched the movie, Overboard. Our boy fell asleep on his sofa for the last time.....God....I am going to miss him! I dread tomorrow. :(

after they left, we had dinner and watched the movie, Overboard. Our boy fell asleep on his sofa for the last time.....God....I am going to miss him! I dread tomorrow. :(

Good-Bye Lunch @ Sagebrush

Today after church, we had lunch at Sagebrush with some friends as a good-bye for Matheus. Several people showed up including Kris, Jesse, Bryson, Dana Smith and a friend of his as well as Bryson's parents. It was a fun time....and guess who showed up at the end.......Big Show Baker.....ha.

Matheus says goodbye to The Grace Place

Today was Matheus' last day at The Grace Place and it was very touching. The congregration there put together the coolest thing for him....they gave him a canvas with a tree painted on it and everyone put their thumbprint on the branches using different colored ink......and then they signed the back of the frame. It was beautiful.....Joe presented it to him and he almost cried....it really touched him....it touched us all....what a wonderful idea!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Shop and Party

Today was our last shopping trip as we headed to Hickory in the morning.....we stopped at Kelly's sports to order a Letterman Jacket......he tried on a couple and ended up choosing one with white leather sleeves....it looked great on him. We will be taking the letter back to them early next week....they are going to embroider his first name on the front and last name on the back in gold.

A Sample of what the name will look like on the back....but in yellow/gold

name on the front....sample

A Sample of what the name will look like on the front

Matheus will have white sleeves

here is the jacket

COOL!!!

I love that smile!

nice shoes

Then we headed to Dick's Sporting Goods to see if we could find a Carolina Shirt he liked.....and a pair of shoes for his dad....they didn't have the shoes and there were no Carolina shoes he liked. He tried on this hat just for fun....it looks great on him.....doesn't it? :)

I almost bought this shirt for Claudia.....took a pic to show her.....I think it would look GR8 on her

This looks like something that would make a nice gift in the future also!

He tried this one on...but decided against it.

Then we headed to Burts.....in downtown Hickory....to get a ski bag for the trip home....while there he checked out the ski goggles....

and the skis

Today we went to Angie & Lynn's house for a goodbye party for Jon. Matheus met a little girl there from Brazil.....her mother did an exchange with Angie's family when they were younger....Marco had met her a few weeks ago and had told Matheus he needed to meet her....what a coincidence! She was a sweetie....so was her mom. Her name was Helena.

All the kids went out on the boat and I swam for a bit in the lake. They have the most beautiful place there. They had food also for us all....hot dogs and the spreadings.....some great chicken salad! After we ate....we all piled in the boats and went to one of their neighbors houses and the kids went para sailing....there was a hill and the boat pulled them down the hill before lifting them into the air....it was SOOO cool! Matheus did it and he seemed to LOVE it! Tommy video taped it on Matheus' iphone.....and he was wearing a helmet cam.....we are hoping to see the video from the helmet cam on Utube soon....:) Lynn and Justin and Travis worked really hard so all the kids could do this....they are such nice people! We met a real nice couple there.....the Harts....we had met their son there before....Phillip.....we see why he is such a nice young man..as his parents are very nice christian folks....with a great sense of humor!

After the para sailing.....we got a chance to chat with Helena's mom and Angie's mom for a while....it was really nice.....and helpful to me also.....just hearing her stories of how it was for her when she first came to live here in this country.....the things that were hard to get used to and how hard it is for her to interpret from Portuguese to English in her head. I told Matheus on the way home that it was a helpful conversation and that I wish that AFS had more orientation and connections like this to assist us in understanding what he went through. He shared some of his difficulties when he first come here just as burping…..as this is something that is not done in his country…..he shared that he didn’t really remember when he started dreaming in English as he stated that he thinks he dreams in a combination of English and Portuguese. Angie stated that the students that she worked with were always very excited the first time they dreamed in English.