We have gathered here today to remember a very dear member of our community. She may have seemed a little prickly in the outside, but in the inside she was full of life.
Rolanda joined our community in Month 3 in Bulgaria and since then has been in a total of 3 continents, 6 countries, and 8 airports. There were many times we thought we might lose Rolanda and she escaped each time. Let’s spend some time celebrating all of her triumphs.
First off, Rolanda went through many seasons in her life, but she never gave up. There was the time she almost froze in Bulgaria, the time she drowned in rain almost everyday in Malaysia because I kept forgetting her in the roof, and the time she never saw a bit of sun in the middle of the city in Myanmar. Each season wore on Rolanda from within in a different way, but that girl was able to keep her outer appearance strong for the benefit of those around her.
Rolanda also survived falling out of a window twice… in the same week… and the only damage was her glass jar she was planted in each time. The first time she fell out a 3rd story window and landed in ledge 4 feet below the window -shoutout to Caleb for being tall and leaning too far out the window to grab her. The second time she fell out the kitchen window in Myanmar and spent the rest of the month in a plastic bowl until we ate enough peanut butter to have an empty PLASTIC jar to plant her in – shoutout to our English students who helped me steal dirt late at night from a neighbor.
By now in her life, Rolanda looked a little worse for wear. All her spikes were gone, she had yellow rotting spots, but her root system was still strong and alive. We all had hope she would pull through.
There was also that time the security agents in the Cambodian airport tried to take Rolanda from my backpack. But praise the Lord for puppy dog eyes that melted the heart of the lady who allowed me to sneak Rolanda on by. Shoutout to Heather for pausing from convincing the security lady that her insulin was absolutely necessary to explain that Rolanda was also very necessary.
Rolanda spent her last days on a doorstep overlooking the mountains in Lesotho watching the sunrise and sunset everyday. She was nurtured, admired, and visited often by all who passed her everyday. Alas, some toddlers were a little too curious and uprooted her while our team was away for a couple days and the Lesotho sun may have just fried her roots a little too much…
Rolanda passed away peacefully in the window sill of a South African youth camp watching monkeys chase each other all day. We can learn a lot from the life of Rolanda though…
Number 1:
The people who really matter will always love and ask about you no matter how ugly you look
Number 2:
Glass jars may look pretty but aren’t the best to travel with
Number 3:
It is better to root yourself deeply to avoid a cruel death by curious toddlers of the world
So with that we say, thank you Rolanda for being the best travel companion a girl could ask for. You will be missed, but never forgotten. See ya in plant heaven.
