Thoughts on Departing Neighbors

Kari and Jonathan are moving. If you know me well, or are friends with Kari on Facebook, you probably already knew this. Delivering the basic information isn't what I'm here for, though, I'm here to delve into the deeper meaning of it all so that when I look back I can say, "what the heck was I thinking? And why did I type that? And look at those spelling errors in spite of autocorrect..."

So when the opportunity came up for Jonathan to take over as manager of the Parker store it was news, but not BIG news. Nope. The moment we decided to move to Pueblo we knew it would not be big news for either of our families to move AWAY from Pueblo - Kari and Jonathan had been hoping to relocate for some time already, and we have never planned on Pueblo as our Forever Town (if you can plan such a thing. We hear it often happens accidentally). We had big talks before Joe took the job here at the Target DC that we were moving here for us, it was good for OUR family, and anything above and beyond that was icing on the cake. Live in the same town? Icing. Live in the same PART of town? Very thick, chocolate icing. Live RIGHT NEXT DOOR? A scoop of ice cream on top! But no matter what, we are here for us. And really, we will be anywhere for us, and know that as Joe works toward a promotion to Senior Group Leader he is most likely working toward relocation. And that's ok! The only thing that truly matters to me is that we will be together as a family... the rest is just icing!

Similarly for Kari and Jonathan, when they were deciding to put an offer on the house next door we had big talks that we wanted them to buy the house for them. They were already house-hunting, looking for extra bedrooms and a different layout and more recently built, and that house fit all the criteria PLUS was a bargain, plus (icing!) came with way cool neighbors, but it needed to be what was good for their family. We didn't want them to buy the house if it was going to be financial strain to then rent their old home, or if the new one needed mass renovations they couldn't afford, or if they really didn't WANT to live next to us, but in the end it worked out!

And we agreed from day one that it was temporary.

In order to make the most of our temporary situation we hung out basically at the exclusion of the rest of the world. We ate lunch together nearly every single day, cooked our Double Dinners twice a week, hosted parties together, stayed up late scrapbooking together, bought the trampoline that broke Caroline's arm together, and it was wonderful! Even the broken arm.

So while the current situation provided wonderful opportunities, I see opportunities on the horizon for growth. When we weren't close to family in Thornton I had very close friends who became my family - they supported me in big and small ways! I called them for and about everything! They were there at the drop of a hat! And although we have great friends here I have not taken full advantage and strengthened those friendships in the same way because I didn't HAVE to, I always had Kari. Now is an opportunity to grow relationships. Here, Kari was always happy (or at least willing) to watch my kids while I ran errands so that I didn't have to take them or do it when Joe was home. Now will be a time to rely on Joe more regularly for having my back when I've got things I need to get done, because heck knows I have seen the light and I am not grocery shopping with 4 kids ever again if I can help it.

The only growth that I will miss will be my kids growing up with their cousins, and there is no replacement for that. SAD. But in spite of their lack of everyday interaction we can assure their growth of friendship in years to come as we plan family reunions and cousin summertime stay-overs and holiday gatherings and random get-togethers because the Rockies tickets were on crazy sale. Plus, then there's the novelty of seeing those cousins we haven't seen in so long :)

I will always always ALWAYS be thankful for the time we were able to spend together in Pueblo. There will never be another situation like it, and I like to think we squeezed the most out of it! But just because something good is gone doesn't mean there aren't more good things to come... and I look forward to them, whatever they may be.