As I compose this post, I sit close to 700 miles away from the Allegheny Mountain School. That is five, nearly SIX whole state lines I have to cross before I am back alongside the wonderful people who live there that are becoming my family, back at the farm that is becoming our home. And since I am not at the farm to update you on the day’s goings on, it is this little family, this little home that I wish to write about. I hesitate to speak upon behalf of my fellow fellows, however I am sure we would all agree that at the Allegheny Mountain School, the words fellow and family are moving ever closer together in meaning.
All nine of us arrived a month ago to this farm complete strangers. Each of us left behind a home, friends, in some cases a lover, and for all, a community full of familiar faces, comfortable places, and people that love us. We left those things to come here, to be a part of something unfamiliar and unknown. And frankly, to do such a thing takes a lot of guts! We came, of course, motivated by personal passion, goals, by learning and growing opportunities, all things that made the decision and transition easier. Never the less, to leave a cherished community and run off to form a new one… it is a big deal! It is quite a challenge of the heart and mind!
And yet. Here we are, having done just that. And as I sit here, miles and miles away from our farm on the mountain, I’ve gotta say, it was so clearly a worthy challenge! Because those 8 other strange faces, they are becoming my familiar ones! Our cabins, our gardens, our shared spaces, they are becoming my comfortable places! And from this distance, with this longing in my heart, the truth is unmistakeable! We’ve got a little family thing going on! And I miss it! So hey, Allegheny Mountain School! Sara, Matthew, Spencer, Lara, Eli, Coriena, Jeremy, Brian! I’m coming home!
