It is my birthday, so perhaps that is the reason for my nostalgia, but I miss those days which will never be again…. the days of anticipation for a time we thought would never come and now we are so close I can taste it. Memories of huddled bodies in the Deck, knee to knee, speaking of life in ernest tones, laughing long, pouring out our souls before God and man…… Things I use to dream about are becoming my waking days and etherial visions are becoming tangible realities. As much as I relish this new found concreteness to the vision, I miss the last two years of plans and prayers, conversations and consultations.
I remember people who have flowed through our lives as supporters and constructive critics telling us the should’s and shouldn’ts …. sometimes we listened taking their comments to heart; holding them molding them until we understood what it would take to do this. The Others’ we considered thoughtfully and thoroughly and then with a resounding “We shall overcome!”…. overcame, but not on our strength alone.
Many hands make light work and they have, as people invested in rebuilding this place they were also developing community and a sense of place. Whether they live at the Atangard or not they have spent a part of themselves here and it will always remain with them and them in it. They will always be welcome because they have never really left.
The cost has been great… I know this especially for Dave and Sophia and the entire Suderman family. Our lives are short and how we invest the time we have is important, I am glad they have decided to invest it here. I am happy to invest with them as much as I can and I thank God frequently and vehemently that I can count them as friends. The people in this world as amazing as them are few….. So few in fact that it is a wonder that this project is surrounded by so many like minds, like spirits; and each new person I meet adds to the sum of the parts exponentially more than they could alone. The building is already physically more magnificent than I had imagined before we started it’s transformation and though I do not know what the community will look like, if the renovation is any indication it will be more than my words here could describe.
dan