A not so Happy Ending

I may be coming home next weekend but as of right now my thoughts are totally occupied with other things. Namely, two people have died in the last week.

The first most of you have heard of I'm sure. Over the weekend Rachel, who is from Vermont, informed us that her old science teacher had gone missing. It was a shock to hear at the beginning of the week that she had been murdered. This is of course the kind of thing one never expects to happen in their own town. Thankfully the killers were caught but Rachel had another shock when she found out that they had lived down the street from her. Most of us wore pink today in her teacher's honor.

The second death has actually hit me much harder than the first even though it's further from home. The Abbott of Wat Pasaviet passed away on Tuesday after having been sick for a long time. When Sam first said she had important news I kind of knew what it would be but the gravity of it didn't hit me until later. We were invited to the temple on Wednesday to pay our respects which was an incredible honor. I never would have expected that. That was when I really realized how sad it was. The novices are usually so cheerful but that night it was clear that something was very, very wrong. For many of them the Abbott had been a father figure and you could tell by the way they spoke of him that he was highly respected. Now they're all quite nervous about what will happen and who will care for them.

Just last week I was so confident that I was ready to head home, now I feel like I'd be leaving my students right when they need some one. It wouldn't be so bad if the other volunteers had been here longer but they've all been here for two weeks or less. I couldn't help but feel, when we went to the temple, that I was the only one who was truly sad for the novices.

We've been invited to the Abbott's cremation on Wednesday which was a bit shocking but I'll be glad to go. I've been so off the last couple of days that I think it might be good closure for me too. I'd love to have another class before I leave but at this point the cremation might be the last time I see my students.

I'd like to end this on a somewhat happier note but the only thing I can think of is that Mipu's remaining puppy has been named 'So Cute' because the volunteers(myself included of course) said it so much.