Scribblings from Sharpie:

As I flew back from the WS, all I could think of was open mic night where someone played part of the soundtrack from The Fellowship of the Ring. The song was stuck in my head and when I looked for it on my iPod, all I had was The Return of the King. So once the stewardess cleared use of electronics, I sought out those familiar tunes. I wanted something long and so selected a song from the credits called, "Days of the Ring."

The opening lyrics sang,
"Lay down, your sweet and weary head. Night is falling, you've come to journey's end. Sleep now, and dream of the ones who came before. They are calling from across the distant shore. Why do you weep? Why all of these tears upon your face. Soon you will see, all of your fears will pass away. …Hope fades, Into the world of night. Through shadows falling, Out of memory and time. Don't say: 'We have come now to the end'. White shores are calling, You and I will meet again."

I didn't expect to come this year. And while I had resigned myself to and accepted that fact, I still longed for the place I had long ago termed as my "Imladris." That term might not make much sense to some of you, but it's what the Elves in Lord of the Rings call Rivendell. While travelers and those who had heard of the hidden city called it Rivendell, to those who called it home, it was known as Imladris.

I had been missing "home" something fierce. Everything about me was dry and tired. I needed a place of healing and rest. Most of you probably will find it funny, but oddly enough, I get more sleep at the workshops, than I do at home.

So for me, this was a place of rest. Home. Imladris.

And the more I think and pray and hope and dream, the more this becomes home...And no longer a 'Rivendell', but rather Imladris.

When Mark Wilson spoke this year and compared OYAN to Rivendell, a place for elves, I agreed. But now I'd like to suggest a slight change in the analogy.

For some, namely a few elves, Rivendell is Imladris; home until they pass over the sea. For others, Rivendell is the last refuge for them until they are allowed passage back to what is home for them, Valinor. And then there are the other peoples, for whom Rivendell is a retreat and refuge, but their home is set. It's Rohan or Gondor, the Shire or Moria.

So maybe you're not just an elf. Perhaps you could be counted as a hobbit or a dwarf or even a man; staying for a time, however long, and then returning home.

Maybe for others, Rivendell is merely a holding point for you until you pass "over the sea" to far better things.

But maybe you're like me, and Imladris is your home, your resting place. The final stop.

So when I go back "home", back to Tennessee each time, I don't see it as returning to Imladris. I don't have that kind of home there.

All I am is Strider, going away for a time, serving quietly and faithfully so that I might better the lives of those I left behind.

Maybe this all seems like a far stretch to you. But you have to understand what it's like to finally have an Imladris in order to know what it's like to leave.

There weren't tears on my half, no sobbing and messy goodbyes. Just plans for the return trip and a request to "make if back in one piece."

This isn't goodbye. Because how could I "come back home" if I was truly leaving it?

Imladris is a place that I will always return to.

After all, all roads lead Home.

Safe journey.

I'll see you soon.

~Janae Leeke/Sharpie