Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Girls Night Out - The Endless Goodbye

As our family and friends will attest, we have been leaving forever. (good bye already! they must be thinking) Last night was a perfect storm of entertainment. Good friends, good food, good drinks and good times. I was completely happy to share an evening with my best friends, and so fortunate that they all could make it. Although I have a touch of the irish flu today (I hate when that happens), it was totally worth it. Tina gets the award for responsible behavior, as she saw me to my door. THE DOOR! What a gal.
As I mentioned, we've been saying our good byes for months now. Once a date had been arrived at for retirement, all the details began to take up lots of our time. Jerry has been a trooper about seeing that our new address is provided to those who need it (those bills just keep coming, no matter where you are-and they do like to know where you are). He's the detail guy. But the closer it gets to actual moving day, the more free time we have to ponder the move itself. It will be a big adjustment for us to be much more isolated then we have ever been. We're counting on the fact that we genuinely enjoy each others company to be a big help when homesickness kicks in. And it will. As I looked around the table last night at the women who have been my friends and support for 20 plus years, I realised how much I will miss them in my day-to-day life. They are irreplaceable. They are my sisters, and I am theirs. They have all raised the bar on friendship.
As we approach the three-day countdown to liftoff, I am suddenly acutely aware of how well I have chosen my friends, and so grateful that they have chosen me. I will follow the blog advice and not get all sappy. However, it must be said. There are no better friends than mine. What a wonderful gift to take away with us. Thank you.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

For the record, not only did I see Jen to the door, but I watched as she STUMBLED to the door!! Love you Jen!