Goodbye

Goodbyes suck. So do “see ya later”s. Some of you should stop reading here. You know who you are.

We love the life we’ve chosen - the life God chose for us - but as with any life, there’s some parts that just aren’t fun. This week is one of those. We’ve had a lot of fun this week too, traveling to Florida to spend Christmas with family, getting to ring in the new year with friends, church, dinners out, football games, basketball games, movies, late nights of talking and giggling. But the thing we’ll remember the most about this week is the goodbyes.

It’s one thing to say “have a nice trip.” But “we’ll see you in 4 years, the next time you return to the US, when your son is walking, talking, and kicking a soccer ball, and you’ve changed and had crazy life experiences that we won’t be able to understand, and our lives will have changed immeasurably, and then you’ll just stay for a short visit and leave again,” just isn’t a fun thought, and certainly not something we acknowledge with our voice.

As you read this, we’re en route to France, and by the time we pop our computer open again, we’ll be residents of yet another new country. Sawyer will begin learning French in the child-like way that only God understands, and we’ll be pouring over books to try and do it the dumb adult way. Sawyer will begin a life of childhood experiences that we can’t fully sympathize with, and we’ll begin finding our way in a foreign place that we’re supposed to call home.

Thanks for the past five months. Each of you have meant more to us that we can ever express. Thanks for the memories, thanks for the support, thanks for the love. It will carry us for many many months. Even though not fun, thanks for making the goodbyes so painful.

And yes... we want pictures, stories, movies, updates. Everything about your lives! If you don’t tell us, we won’t know.

Next update from Pa-ree!