Yesterday was our final official day of packing at UBC. As the “lead packer” I’ve had an incredible amount of help from the other students who are travelling as well as our wonderful faculty members in sorting and packing bag after bag of beautiful donated items and much-needed medical supplies. We are so fortunate to have so much, and to have so many caring, dedicated individuals who support us in our travels abroad.

That being said, as much as yesterday was about packing, it was also about farewells. Interestingly, I found myself saying “See you in Nepal!” and “See you in Uganda!” (accompanied by big smiles and tight hugs) to many of my colleagues both yesterday and today. Reality is starting to sink in. In just over a week, some of us will be stepping on a plane, not to return home for 3 months.

The packing stages have been overwhelming at times, but I’m sure they bear no resemblance to the degree of overwhelm we’ll experience abroad. And yet, I find myself thinking more and more about my midwifery “family”; my colleagues, who I’ve come to know and love over the last three years. I feel so fortunate to find myself in a program that has brought us so close to each other, that in the absence of my own family, I know I’ll feel better being in the presence of my colleagues and teachers.

On a drive back from Vancouver tonight I heard the song “Closing Time”, which I recently discovered is actually a song about birth. What struck me were some of the final words in the tune…”Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end”. We are very much at the beginning, but it also feels as though something is shifting, that something is also coming to an end.

So for now, I’ll keep saying “See you in Nepal! See you in Uganda” to those fortunate few who we get to travel with, and many “I love you’s and see you soon” to those we love and will see again, come summer.