This week marked my return to Sanctuary work! Hooray!!
Due to a regulation within the Unitarian Universalist Association, there was a covenant in place that restricted me from attending, communicating, or volunteering at the UU Church of Boulder for a year. The rule is usually enforced when a church is transitioning between ministers, so that the outgoing minister leaves room for the incoming minister to forge their own relationship with the congregation. I did not serve the church as a minister, but it was decided that since I was a "ministerial presence" both because of the work I did and my involvement in seminary, that I would be ask to follow the protocol. This means that I was separated from my beloved Bryant, Anibal, and Elizabeth, whom I had seen nearly everyday since arriving in Colorado. My first week of work was the week Elizabeth was born! Anibal and I played cars nearly every day. The pandemic restrictions were difficult enough, but losing these kids felt like a debilitating blow to my heart.
However, this week I got to see them! It was glorious! I knew the separation would have altered the kid's trust and intimacy with me, but when we first saw each other it was actually so much easier than I could have hoped. Only Elizabeth was reserved, having been much too young to remember me and also having spent so much of the year without seeing anyone other than her family due to the pandemic.
Now we, once again, get to see each other regularly. I am beyond ecstatic.
This also means I get to see one of my favorite people- Ingrid!! We have had such a nice time catching up, laughing, and realizing how wretched my Spanish is after not practicing all year.
Bryant rock climbing in the foothills to get closer to the hawk.
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