It's Coming

It's here, PCS season.  This one has passed me by, but next year, I will be one of many, uprooted, reassigned, starting over.

One year has passed with one more to go. A year from now, the truck will pull up, boxes will be loaded, goodbyes will be said, and I'm not ready. 

Am I ever ready?

The goodbyes are painful, the cross-country trip is exhausting, and being the new person all over again is draining. 

I know it's coming and so do you. 

And I have something to tell you...

Thank you. 

Thank you for inviting us to your home, breaking bread with us, spending time with us, watching our children play together under the shade of trees on late afternoons, the sound of their laughter filling the air like smoke billowing from a fire.  I shut my eyes and picture what life would be like to stay in this place with these friends for a lifetime, a smile easing over my face, the thought relaxing my soul.

Thank you for getting to know me, investing your time in me, developing a friendship with me.  I may be one of many friends to you, but to me, you are one of few.  I have many friends all over country and all over the world, but here, in this place, you are one of the few.  

Thank you for letting your child be my child's best friend, playing together, laughing together, crafting paper hearts together.  I, like you, have dreamed of my daughter having a best friend, and here they are, spending all their time together, and I wonder how their hearts will break when I tell them about the move.  Thank you for letting my little girl experience all the joy of having a best friend, even if it is only for a few short years together.

It's coming. I'm not ready, and I never will be. Our family chose this life; yours didn't, so thank you for choosing to love our family.