Bon Voyage

Our wonderful friends are leaving for New Jersey tomorrow.  I've been pretty upset about it, so much so that I just kept putting it out of my head because otherwise it makes me too sad.  But I understand why they are going, and think and hope they will have a great adventure in a totally new state, with new friends and MUCH better weather.  There is something appealing to me about picking up and completely starting over somewhere else, probably because I've never done it.  

Julie and I have been through alot in the +20 (yikes) years that we've known each other.   I won't go into details, but it's so wonderful that both of us have found really happy places in our lives.  It's not like we have a "talk on the phone every day" kind of friendship.  It's more of an "email alot, and see each other during baseball season" kind of a thing.  And that's what I will miss the most, our Ranger games.  It's so relaxing, even therapeutic, to sit for 2 to 3 hours watching a sport you love with someone you've known so long, and getting caught up with each others lives, and laughing about old and new times.  

I'll also miss Grace's birthday party, which has become an annual big event on our calendar.  She is just getting to the age when I feel like we could become good friends.  I want to keep a bond going somehow with Godmother pen pal letters, and hopefully getting to see her when they come back in town to visit.    I know Gabriel's going to miss Alex and Grace too.  They were the first kids he ever really played with, and considers them honorary cousins.  And we'll all miss our annual trip to Cafe Madrid during Running with the Bulls weekend.  

I hope to visit them somehow, although it would be easier it they were within driving distance.  Plane ticket costs are probably going nowhere but up, and with these crazy economic times it's hard to imagine being able to squeeze that much out of our budget.  But I'll hope for some kind of miracle.  Because I'm not going to let a little thing like 1500 miles mess up a great friendship.

I hope you guys have a safe trip up, and get settled in to your new adventure very quickly.  And I can't wait to see you when you come in for the holidays!