Farewell

This past Sunday we drove the boys up to a cabin on the Susquehana River to see some friends of ours. We have been friends with this family since college, before any of us were married. Chris and Scott shared an apartment for a while, even, and had some classes together. When Chris and I hooked up again after graduation, he and Scott had both gotten jobs in the same town and were going to the same church. Debbie and I had babies together (my 10 yo is 3mos older than her 10 yo) and spent lots of time at church, working on their house (they bought a fixer upper), and just having fun together.

About 6 years ago Scott was lured away to a new job in North Carolina. It was so hard to see them go so far away; we knew we would only see each other once a year at most. Sometimes 2 years would pass by before we'd get a chance to see each other.

Last fall Debbie called me up and said "what would you think of us moving to New Zealand?" Truthfully, I just laughed out loud. These two have always talked about moving far away, but to someplace like Colorado or Oregon. New Zealand just sounds crazy! I guess a head-hunter had called Scott to try to recruit him to come down there to work. This is how they came to be living in Asheville, but at that time Scott was getting really run down and fed up with his current job. I guess he was feeling the same way again at his new job, but wow, New Zealand seems kind of extreme, you know? Well, I guess it sounded romantic too, because they decided to seriously consider it.

After looking into it, and actually going down there and interviewing for jobs, they decided to go for it! So this spring they sold their house and put all their furniture in storage, and today they are leaving us for their biggest adventure yet! By the end of the week they will become Kiwis! They said they are planning to be down there for 2-4 years at least, maybe more depending on how the kids are doing in school.

So this weekend, we got together one last time with all the kids, and just spent the day hanging out. We had such a good time, like always, and it was sad to go; it is hard to find such good friends. I am hoping 2 years goes by quickly. I know that when we see them again, it will be as though only months had passed instead of years. So Good Bye old friends! Have fun on your adventure!