My First Goodbye

Charis House has a wonderfully large, bright room that residents call the dining room. Its a focal point for community building because it has a few key ingrediants: the sunshine, food, and just an area to sit and talk. This is where I met Sioma a few days after arriving in Buxton.

Sioma is of Indian descent, but was born and raised in England's Lake District. We have a lot in common and she was one of the first people in Buxton that I just really clicked with. She is twenty-two, a recent university graduate in education, and was pregnant. We talked for almost an hour the first day we meet. It was a light chat with talks of baby names and funny university stories, but conversation just flowed. Sioma fled her family after knowledge of her pregnancy. They were not supportive and a simple version of her story was they did not want her to be a part of the family with a baby out of wedlock. About three weeks after I arrived, Sioma gave birth to a GORGEOUS baby girl. She named her, Jurmriah. Jurmriah instantly took over Charis House. Everyone wanted to hold her and just stare. I held her often, becoming increasingly less scared that I might break her.

I went on Sioma's first walks with Jurmriah. I pushed the buggie as we described the many new and exciting scenes to a sleeping baby. These walks were so much fun. Sioma and I would make guesses as to what Jurmriah would become as we walked her through the park to look at the Autumn trees and the screaming youngsters on the swings.

Sioma has found a new house near Jurmriah's father. She moved out on Thursday, but before they left I got to spend a whole afternoon baking with her! We were just sitting around one Saturday, marveling at the baby, as we often did, when Sioma decided we should make a cake. It was a simple "Victorian sponge" that she knew the recipe for. While we were at it, she whipped up some butter-cream icing for the top too. Cake often brings people together and we enjoyed eating it with many of the other residents who smelled it and came to join.

4 OZ flour
4 OZ butter
4 OZ sugar
2 eggs
*This makes a pretty small cake. We doubled it and made a pretty standard sized one.
Butter cream icing - we made our own:
300 OZ icing sugar
3 OZ butter

Sioma has left now and I encourage prayers for a peace within her and the uncertainity of her future, maybe even while enjoying a slice of her delecious cake.