fond farewell

On Friday, we hosted the entire Dental Clinic staff here for a farewell BBQ for Dr Rich and his family.  Dr Rich has been in Kijabe 25+ years, so it felt like the least we could do was to gather everyone together for a time of food, fellowship and farewell.  He leaves Kijabe in about two weeks, and those two weeks are bound to be hectic (a son is graduating high school!) and filled with many good byes. 

The day was busy. . .the cooking began early at our house:

 {girls in the kitchen}

{men at the grill}

Of course, a proper send-off in Kenya can only be done with "mbuzi choma" (roast goat).  We had about 10 kgs {22 lbs} of goat meat. I'll spare you the picture of the raw meat.  There was other traditional Kenyan foods that the women in the clinic made...a little something to remember Kenya by!  There was so much food. I was sure we would barely make a dent in it.  But there were 20-25 people here so of course we polished most of it off.

As we ate, there were speeches. And tears.  Everyone said what Dr Rich (and sometimes his wife, Miriam) meant to him or her.  It was a sweet time of remembrance, laughter, stories, tears, etc.  I was pleasantly surprised that everyone spoke.  

Not everyone liked the speeches, though.

This is Hope:

{smile}

Hope will be three in September and is the {finally} adopted daughter of Warren and Miriam.  When I think about all the paper work that Dexter and I have looming, it is nothing compared to what the Riches have gone through to simply get Hope adopted legally in Kenya.  Now they are working on getting her a visa to the US and then doing the adoption in the US.  It has been a long, trying, discouraging, up and down, process for them.  Should you think of it, please pray for them as they are in the final stages of things but still need God's hand to guide them every step of the way. 

Hope found the speeches a little boring for her taste, and spent the time reading:

{The Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist. appropriate choice}

and trying on everyone's shoes:

All in all, it was a great day!  After the speeches, we wanted to get a photo of the dental clinic, and of course everyone wanted a photo with Dr. Rich, so it took a while.  Here are a few of the gems:

 {dental clinic}

 Dr. Rich

 Miriam, Hope, and Warren Rich

 being stupid

{indeed}

 Kyalo was there, too!

First family photo since Kyalo was 6 days old.  

It was the end of the day, and Kyalo (and I!) was in need of a nap.

I think everyone was pleased with how things turned out.  The Riches have hosted many, many gatherings and events for the dental clinic in their house over the years. I guess this was the official handing over of all responsibilities to Dexter.  I think we're up to the challenge.

My one question from the day is: why do we wait until people are leaving to say what they mean to us?