Tomorrow is a sad day for us. A day that I’ve known for a long time would eventually come but one that I’ve dreaded nonetheless.
Our best friends are moving away.
They are more like family than friends really. They’re certainly the closest thing we’ve got here in Southern Arizona.
Kelly and I became friends nearly four years ago when our husbands were sent halfway around the world to work together in one of Saddam’s former palaces in Iraq. It was actually our husbands who became friends first. They set up a blind date, if you will, for Kelly and I. It turned out to be a good match. We spent several months hanging out together and keeping each other company. My friendship with Kelly took root during that time. And before long our little seed of a friendship became a sapling. Then our husbands came home and our new-found friendship blossomed in full.
Since then we’ve spent countless hours playing Cranium. And Taboo. And random other card games that they’d teach us after returning from a visit with their card-playing families. We’ve shared meals at home and out. We’ve celebrated birthdays together, including some milestone ones. We’ve shared martinis and beer and Smores and cookies. We’ve barbequed on Mother’s Day, lit sparklers on the Fourth of July, carved turkeys on Thanksgiving and worn silly hats to ring in the New Year. We’ve shared laughter and triumph. We’ve endured struggles and pain. We’ve rejoiced with one another at the announcement of a pregnancy. And we’ve visited each other in the hospital to help welcome newborn baby boys. They were thrilled when we asked them to be Jayce’s Godparents. And we were honored when they asked that we do the same for their Adam.
I’m so thankful for the time we’ve spent together. Thankful for the bonds we’ve built. And though they’ll be a few states away, they’ll always be near and dear in our hearts.
I miss them already.
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**HUGS**This has happened to me, 5 times with 5 of my best friends and it’s TOUGH!
More reason to make an annual girl’s weekend trip, like we do! ;)
Oh im so sorry! I know it is so tuff! Ill be praying and sending you hugs!
Sounds like they were great friends. I got a little teary-eyed reading your post. Good-byes are never fun…
Oh I’m so sad for you. That’s gotta be hard. ((hug))
Very sad. Big hugs to you. It’s not fun to say good-bye, but now you’ve got a great place to go for a vacation :) xo
Friends like that are so special and rare. I hope you still get to see each other often!
Steph
What a hard day. My closest friend lives on the other side of the world in Johannasburg. It’s hard, but thank goodness for the email. We chat every day!
Awe, how sad that they are moving away! What a special friendship you have!
IT’S HARD TO LOSE CLOSE FRIENDS……..GOD BLESS!
My days are numbered too. Our buds are moving 1 hour away on a good day in NY traffic. Our families have grown up together. Whenever there was a bad storm or something not right in the world, always one of the dads was stuck somewhere else. Therefore, the other picked up the slack.
I will always remember the vacations and fun and I am sad to think my grandchildren will not grow up next door in the garage loft like we always joked they would!
We have been the leavers several times. I remembering leaving our best friends in Texas when we moved here to CT. We went out for ice cream, after going out for Mexican food. We used to do that at least twice a month, if not every Saturday night.
I knew that I would stay in touch with my friends, but looking around at the kids, and seeing my kids say goodbye to my friends–I realized that it just wouldn’t be the same. We grownups don’t change that much, but the kids sure do.
It’s harder to leave than to be left, because when you are the leaver you have your new life to set up. But she’ll still need you and will be looking forward to your phone calls and emails. Good friends will always be good friends, regardless of geography.
I’ve been thinking of you over the last day or so. Hoping you’re holding up okay!
Hey Darcie…I can imagine how sad this is going to be. It is really tough to find good friends, and when you do, you want to hold on. Hang in there!
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