Leigha's Log

 "What do you see now, Grandma?"  This was the question I asked everyday this past week. October 25th - Nov 1st will be a week I nor I think my family will ever forget. As my Grandmother journeyed her last week on this crumbling earth for a far better place, the widest range of emotions happened and somehow what seemed like 2 months was all crammed into 7 days.  What I want to explain in these words is going to fall so short of what I think our whole Edelman family feels in our hearts.  A week of deep sorrow and mourning.  A week of seeing the purest form of love. A week full of tears and also laughter. A week of joyfulness. A week of little to no sleep. A week of seeing family come together. A week of a church family and friends stepping up in amazing ways. A week of unforgettable memories.  As I had the privilege to be at Grandpa's at some point everyday this past week, I would stand by Grandma's bed and ask her or think within myself, "What do you see no...

        I don't know if it was more of a honor to know such a man, work for him, or speak at his Rosary service, but people like Richard don't come around very often and I for one feel so blessed to be touched by his life.         We tend to say that Richard lost his battle with brain cancer, but what really happened is that he won. He gained the greatest victory on Monday, July 6th, 2020 and is now living the best life and I am so jealous. He was so ready to go and his last few weeks were such a testimony to me. Patiently  and eagerly  waiting to leave this earth and his physical pain. That's how I want to be.         I’ve been blessed to have many wonderful and incredible examples and mentors in my 25 years thus far, but out of all of them, Richard outweighs them all. He was a silent example in so many ways and I think I can say along with many other young people that even though Richard didn’t h...

Don't ask me how its happened but somehow its already over 2 months since I've been home from Uganda. Time is passing by and sometimes I find it hard to believe that I was actually in another country for 7 months. Most days I get so busy with matters at home and with the farm that I don't spend much time thinking about my time in Bukeka anymore. Don't get me wrong, not a day has passed that I don't think about it in some way. But the days of scrolling through my pictures, listening to my 3 favorite Luganda songs on repeat, and replaying voice recordings have gone. Sometimes I feel guilty that it seems that  I've "let it go" so quickly, but mostly I'm just so thankful that my transition home so far has been far better than I thought. It is true though, some days are harder than others and I have all kinds of feelings that well up inside of me that I find it hard to explain.  There are always the times that I might be overcome with laughter of s...

Yes, I'm home.  Yes, I miss Bukeka. Yes, I'm cold. Yes, I miss it. Yes, it went fast. Yes, I learned a lot. No, I won't be able to explain it all right now.  One of my friends on the other side thought it was funny how I numbered my weeks while I was in Uganda, but then he suggested I should do the same thing when I get back home too. Praising God for the most incredible past 7 months and also for the safe journey back home on Tuesday.  You know I am praising Jesus so much, my first week at home couldn't have gone better. I was nervous and anxious about coming home, and still am a little with the weeks ahead. But God has been so faithful to me. I'm 100% confidant its the prayers prayed on my behalf with this transition. Yes I'm lonely for my kids and all that Suubi was to me, but so far the transition home has been so smooth. Maybe it helps that I could jump right back into working, and that I got to come home to two of my sibling...

Time is somehow passing very quickly and certain people would rather have me probably counting down the weeks or days till I'm on the plane home, rather than the number of weeks I'm still in Uganda. Its a fact that I'm having to face that feels like its all to soon. It seems very crazy that my time is almost up. It might be the most dreaded topic these days, and everyone knows it.  Sometimes I forget all the things that happen here that might be or seem interesting, but for me here now they seem normal or less significant, and it's somehow hard to share whats been happening this side. (btw that was a very Ugandan way to write a sentence) Its funny how much you began to talk in the way that they speak english here. But today I was complimented on the way I speak to the children in a way that they can understand. So if I don't ever really learn Luganda more than I have, at least they can understand my english. I know most of the roads around and even have a ...