Sundays

Do you ever have that feeling on Sunday? That unexplained feeling of dread. I mean, don't get me wrong- like every other person I know that coins Sunday Funday THE day of the week, I love it too. But almost every Sunday I experience this slowly nagging and overwhelming sadness, even if just for a few seconds about the weekend that just passed. Sunday is simply the last day of the weekend, right on the cusp of another week of work and obligation. I attempt to make Sunday last as long as possible, pushing the limit to the amount of excitement and mischief I can get into before work Monday morning at 7am.

Living in Europe is wonderful, but just like anywhere else you live, it has its pros and cons. One of the reasons that Sunday originally became such an ordeal was because it was the countdown to my time spent in Europe and my return to my life in America. Another weekend gone, seven days spent out of my 365 days, and in the blink of an eye another week would be over and I would be enjoying the weekend again but then Sunday, my constant antagonist, would creep up on me. After months and months of deliberation, with both my host family and my family, I decided to extent my time in Europe for at least another year.

But yet, there was that feeling again.. slowly approaching this past Sunday. See, that's the thing about living in another country, yes, you occasionally meet friends who will continue to stay where you are, in my case in Holland, but you also meet people that you experience such incredible things with and only then to have them leave. Whether they be American, British, Australian, or any other nationality sooner or later, they exit your life. Not for forever,  whereas I know we will always stay in contact one way or another, but I do know that they won't constantly be present in my life like they've been. It's bittersweet really, it makes me incredibly sad to see such amazing people come and go, but, I know if I hadn't met them here in Europe, who knows if I would have met them at all. It's the type of life we lead. It's the adventure that brought us to live in another country, away from everything we once knew, relying on one another as our support system. We are all each other has sometimes. Our families aren't close by so we become a family in a way. But that's the beauty of it all..Memories made with people that understand you and feel the same way you do about your time away. Continuously making the most of the time you do have here, enjoying every bit of the culture and embracing all the new relationships you are lucky enough to have made.

I know the latter scenario is not one that will change.. I will continue to meet people that come in and out of my life like a revolving door but I know that every time I do, I will take a piece of them and our time together and store it for days like Sunday when I feel that daunting feeling of emptiness creeping in. Then, I will just smile.

"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose." - The Wonder Years