Expiration Dates

I remember in Undergrad putting off studying and postponing the reality of final exams and the inevitable ending of the semester.  Then it would hit me.  I would be grocery shopping at Kroger on College Station Road and the expiration date on the milk would be that same date as one of my finals.  Suddenly and sharply the end would feel real, near.

What was once on the horizon was now staring me directly in the face.

A recent Peace Corps Volunteer who was at his Close of Service (COS) eloquently said “I can’t say it will get easier, but I can promise that it will eventually end.” 

Those words have stayed with me.  They have encouraged me.   

It happened after leading a library workshop with a fellow Volunteer.  The celebratory juice packet had an expiration date of September 2015.  All of a sudden it seemed real to me. 

One day my service will end.

I won’t have to eat rice everyday.  I won’t have to endure 115F+ temperatures.  I won’t have to go weeks without talking to my family.  I won’t have to feel inadequate.  I won’t have to hear little children or old people refer rudely to me as an outsider.  I won’t have to take a whole day just to travel 100 miles.  

Today marks eleven months in The Gambia.  Only one month until our one-year in country anniversary.

Today I am thankful for expiration dates.