For now this Testimony on exlc.info is in French
[Rough translation]
That day, although it had been preceded by a month of spiritual crisis, everything happened suddenly. A discreet jump into the town center one afternoon with one of them looking for some clothes. Then everything happened with the greatest discretion, so that, according to the tradition in these cases, my little personal drama would not perturb the fidelity of the others.
At that moment, I was careful not to be seen "in civvies" and I furtively went down the service stairs heading for the airport. My two superiors were waiting for me in the garage. After a furtive trip to Mc Donalds to relax the tension, it was time to leave, a new life was beginning.
The time would come when my confreres would realize I was not there and the hackneyed formulas would fill the gap: "se fue", he left, or "ya no esta", he is no longer here, or "no era su camino", it was not his path!. These practical phrases stopped any further discussion of the issue if questions arose about my disappearance.
[Original text, first part]
« Un récit bien triste...
Le jour où je suis sorti de la Légion
Par Xavier le mercredi 3 février 2010, - Témoignages - Lien permanent
Ce jour là, bien que préparé à l’événement par des mois de crise spirituelle, tout va très vite. Un saut discret au centre ville une après-midi pour quelques courses vestimentaires avec l’un d’entre eux. Puis tout se passe dans la discrétion la plus totale, pour que, comme la tradition l’a établi dans ces cas là à la Légion, mon petit drame personnel ne vienne pas perturber la fidélité des autres.
Pour le moment, je prends garde de ne pas être vu ‘en civil’ et je descends furtivement les escaliers de service, direction l’aéroport. Mes deux supérieurs m’attendent au garage. Après un passage furtif au Macdonald histoire de décrisper l’atmosphère, c’est le départ, une nouvelle vie commence.
Le moment viendra bien où mes frères de communauté s’en rendront compte et je sais déjà que les formules toutes faites colmateront la brèche: « ¡se fue! » (il est parti!) ou « ¡ya no esta! ») « il n’est plus là! » ou encore (« ¡no era su camino! ») « ce n’était pas son chemin! ». Ces phrases pratiques permettront de ne pas aller plus loin sur la question si des interrogations surgissent à mon sujet.
That story in my experience was 'par for the course." Indeed the individual was treated better that others I talk about in my forthcoming book (www.MonkWhoStoleTheCow.com) As the "community driver' I often whisked departing LCs off to airports, train stations and bus depots while the community was "distracted." Some of these poor souls had to change out of their clerical gear in the car prior to donning a used pair of beige pants and a sweater. I'll never forget the look on their faces as I said a last goodbye before putting them on a bus... In one instance, I drove one to his home and, despite my enormous embarrassment, I was entrusted to go in with him and return his discarded black suit to the Cuernavaca postulancy. In my case, I left the LC with a one-way ticket to Gabon in Central West Africa and $100 in cash.
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