Cambodia or bust (continued)

More than 10 years earlier, Michelle and I had met at work.  We became fast friends.  We both have a vicious senss of humor, like a good margarita, love the beach and the ocean (yet by virtue of our joint Irish heritage, are not ‘beachy’ types), love U2 and Pink and Ireland, and reading and great music and … well, you get the picture.  I was there for her through some difficult personal trials and she was on-hand to watch my first marriage self-destruct.  At one point, we lived and worked together.  We walked into work together, went to the gym together and hung out with the same circle of friends.  Just to make sure we really liked each other, we decided to go around the world together - for nine weeks.  Through it all, we always had the best time.  Together, we were more than the sum or our parts. 

After that I followed my heart back to the US and she began her volunteerism journey that has, thus far, culminated in her Habitat work.  Although I came back to Adelaide a few years later, like all friendships, our lives had diverged and those halcyon days were in the past.  We were still good friends, but we didn’t see as much of each other.  We both had different interests. 

I went on to get married (again) but this time with much better results, and I permitted the rest of my life to be consumed by my work.  Michelle became less work-oriented, a homeowner (with all that entailed), a gym junkie and a global volunteer.  But whenever we got together, we still had such a good time.

So the combination of Cambodia with Michelle seemed too good to pass up.  Like all good ideas I run with, I might have had a couple of glasses of wine.  I knew she was out at a Habitat reunion dinner that night (of course), but sent a message for her to call me if she didn’t get home too late. Cryptic enough to intrigue her but not to scare her.  Once I have what I consider to be a good idea, I just have to share it.  What can I say?  I’m a Gemini – you know, communicator of the zodiac and all that.  While I have finally learned how to keep a secret, I can’t keep my own secrets.

When she rang, my ideas all came pouring out in a torrent or words “I just want to ask you something.  And I totally understand if you say no, or yes.  I mean, I can see good reasons for both answers.  And I don’t want you to feel bad about telling me the truth.  In fact, I want you to be brutally honest with me.  (Deep breath) I’m thinking about coming with you to Cambodia.  What do you think?  Be honest.”

Silence.  Then, sputtering a little “Uh yeah.  That would be great.  Do you have the leave and everything?  Is this going to cause a financial crisis for you?” 

I told you we think alike.  I hear in her tone, after the initial element of surprise had passed, a growing enthusiasm.  I went on. 

“Yeah.  I think it is doable and you know how I feel about Cambodia.  I think it would be a blast.  I mean I haven’t decided yet.  I’m just toying with the idea but I really wanted to know what you thought.  I didn’t want you think I was some sort of hanger-on.” 

She said something then, I don’t recall what, that seemed to require me to clarify.  “I mean I would come for the build.”

More silence.  Both Michelle and I are such girls with tools and manual labor.  No doubt, Michelle has acquired some skills during the last three builds.  While I have a secret passion for power tools, my husband has managed to keep them away from me ever since I sanded the attic down to baseboards and nearly destroyed his computer equipment and cameras in the adjacent room.

I could tell she was really surprised that I was interested in the build.  But I thought, yes, I can build houses for four days for these people in this country.  It’s only five days… and 75% humidity … and hot.

We talked a bit more about logistics and then ended the conversation, both saying we would think on it a bit more and talk again in the next few days.  That was Thursday.