baby gulley: It's harder to say goodbye when the neighborhood is in peak Autumn perfection

Sunday, November 18, 2012

It's harder to say goodbye when the neighborhood is in peak Autumn perfection

We've been trying to hit up some of our favorite stops:

Why Not Toy Store in Old Town
Aditi Indian
Pasara Thai
KidSing Music Together Class with Shannon
Mike's
Mason Neck Park
Banks Park
Hidden Pond Nature Center
Spinach & Feta Croissants from Grounded

I have a longer list of things we weren't able to accomplish. We will have lots of things to visit in the future. Because for the most part, we have been enjoying our home and the little niceties it holds like baseball under streetlights in the backyard watching a bat coming out, bike riding, tractor pulls through Honeysuckle Grove, a neighborhood full of similar aged boys, raking leaves into jumping piles and throwing piles (apparently they need to be distinct in the Shadden Kai Gulley Rule Handbook for the Code of Life). We've had a little bit of sunshine play during the chaos of sorting and packing to make the moving process tolerable.

Daddy picked our new house because it is across the street from two baseball fields!

Perfect for our little CUB!

One of your favorite things:

Morning Daddy dates to the coffee shop for spinach croissants

Doodlebug even tried one!

Who sits when there is so much to explore?!?!!

Huntley Meadow tractor rides

Morning projects

Smores party

But, it's always standing there. The inevitable last day. We have to say goodbye. Shadden gladly accepted a photo album from a friend and started flipping through the pages earnestly. He said to me, "Mom, this is for remembering." Snap! Right through the gullet! "It's so I can remember all my friends when we are in California." Yes, baby. It is for remembering.

Shadden has told me that he doesn't want to move because, "I like it here." Shadden fully comprehends that he will leave our house and never come back. "I'm going to miss my friends and our house. I love our house, Mom," he has told me. There is nothing I can do with that sadness, but feel it. It is good to grieve today because it is sad to say goodbye. Tomorrow, Shadden will have a bear backpack full of treats and games to play on the airplane and the anticipation of visiting his cousin, GG, and playing baseball with Grampy. He's already been requesting lots of baseball with Grampy and making crowns for he and Lily to play with and offering meal requests for Nana. But today, there are goodbyes. When Shadden ran away instead of giving one last hug I wasn't too surprised to find him laying down looking at the photo album saying, "I was just too sad to say goodbye." Today is a day when making a running break like Curious George and hiding by our house with a photo album still will not change the fact that the goodbye is happening. We have to process sad emotions, mourn our loss, snuggle, and let those feelings go.

We have to praise God for wonderfully stored first memories. As a mom, I wish Shadden and Kealana could remember every detail as Shadden does now reminding me of past events when we pull up to a location for an outing. It pains me to know they will slip away. Yet, Papa reminded me, it's about continually fostering positive experiences so that someday Shadden and Kealana will have confidence to go out and pave their own way. This move will hopefully root God's great providence, solidify siblings, and build up a new strength somewhere inside the learning bank.