© 2015 Lindsay Cope

Sweet Mary

Made a detour when traversing the country, summer 2013

Made a detour when traversing the country, summer 2013

UWC-USA Class of 2005

UWC-USA Class of 2005

A little more than a year ago, I was awaiting my invitation to the Peace Corps. At that time, I was living in Monterey where I collected a family of friends whom I cherish very much. It was a cold winter night in Monterey, and we were gathered at our friend Justin’s house, with a soundtrack alternating between old records, ipods, and Nikki’s acoustic guitar. The warmth and energy in that small Pacific Grove apartment was all love. I remember that night vividly, we were dancing, enjoying Lagunitas beers and California wines, we were happy, silly, and where we should be. It was one of my happiest memories from 2014.

I asked Justin off hand if he had heard “Sweet Mary” by Equalizer. To my delight and surprise, he did and kept it on his ipod. Justin played that song and I was instantly transported to my own world.

“Sweet Mary” first had relevance for me in High School. I attended the United World College USA in Montezuma, New Mexico. Durga, my close friend at the time, introduced the track to our friends. Durga was and is the epitome of cool, and is a curator of faultless soundracks that capture the mood and which continue to swirl among my memories from that time. Sweet Mary quickly became our song. The “Sweet Mary” lyrics captured our reality, we were students from all over the world, and after a year together we were cast across the globe again, “we spent one whole long year together/and at the end, we had to go.” Some of our friends graduated, and it was uncertain when we would be reunited.

When I heard the song again, in Monterey, nearly ten years after it became an aria for an earlier chapter in my life, it was like a melodic oracle. I had been waiting for so long to receive an invitation for Peace Corps. Impatient, and concerned that I wouldn’t have any opportunities if an invitation never came, I began to search for summer internships and was becoming excited about my prospects. I started to think; maybe I won’t accept my invitation. Then, Justin played the song.  I stood in the small living room, dancing by myself, tears sliding down my cheeks as I remembered my life ten years ago while simultaneously feeling and appreciating that moment with my friends in Monterey.  These two chapters of my life had a similar feel — I noticed that I gravitate to communities that exist in brevity, then splinter in all conceivable directions after a year or two.

As Chris Velan sang, “theres a place I know where mangroves grow” I felt without reason or doubt that I would receive an invitation for Peace Corps Philippines and that I would take it. And as Chris Velan sang, “as I crossed the sea it occurred to me/that I’d left myself behind,” I knew how hard it would be to leave these people.  I felt confident that it was the right thing for me, life was calling, and it was divined for me to cross the Pacific to the archipelago I now call home.

I left Monterey, and while I miss last year and all the people that made it what it was, I know it isn’t the same. People are busier, nights aren’t spent listening to records like they used to, and many of my closest friends are elsewhere either graduated or interning. But those friendships remain stronger than ever. While I failed to maintain contact with many of my friends from UWC, I will not make that mistake with my MIIS family. “You never know what you’ve got in this cruel world/until you realize it’s gone.” So to my friends from UWC: Durga, Chelsea, Alice, Philip, Natalia, Meghan, Alessandra, Joanna (Asia), Hatem, Akshay, Thair, Sam, James, Philippos, Josue, Roy, Olav, Erisha, Anthony, Taylor… and my friends from Monterey: Tylie, Katie, Brittany, Jessica, Pan, Matt, Trent, Jordan, Jenifer, Nikki, Mairi, Sara, Tom. And my new PCV friends here in the Philippines, especially FAMTIQUE <3, this song is for you. “When I think back on all the love we shared/I just can’t but help to smile” ☺

 

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The best friends a girl could ask for <3

 

 

4 Comments

  1. Terry Lewis
    Posted April 23, 2019 at 1:08 am | #

    I know how it feels. My students joined the Peace Corps two years ago. They need help with the surveys and interviews (Case Western Reserve University). They are now having their projects with achieveessays thesis and doctoral papers for diplomas.

  2. Sven Taow
    Posted April 23, 2019 at 1:07 am | #

    I know how it feels. My students joined the Peace Corps two years ago. They are now having their projects with achieveessays thesis and doctoral papers for diplomas. They need help with the surveys and interviews (Case Western Reserve University).

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    Posted January 17, 2019 at 11:03 pm | #

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  4. david
    Posted January 6, 2019 at 1:37 am | #

    good

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