Moving & saying goodbye...

Tonight one of my oldest friends is hurting, a friend who is really family in that we’ve been there through all the ups and downs of life together since junior high. There are many things I could say, I could rant about the anger I feel for her at the unfairness of it all or the overwhelming heartache I know she and her husband are feeling in a very deep way, but really none of that can help. They are struggling with the end of negative treatment cycle, one in a line of many that was filled with hope and one in which they poured their hearts and souls. If you’ve known this grief or even if you haven’t but want to offer support, please stop by her blog. I know in the depths of my own grief sometimes knowing I wasn’t alone brought some small comfort.

If I’m a bit MIA for the next month it’s because we are in the process of packing up our home & moving at the end of this month. Nick received a fantastic new job opportunity this past week which has us relocating to the Kansas City area. We’re thrilled that we’ll now be in closer proximity to our families in Iowa and we absolutely love KC (we lived there briefly while in college). So life is going to be a bit hectic for the next couple of months. We just put our house up for sale, are attempting to find temporary housing in KC, and wrapping up our old jobs while also attempting to pack and make preparations to move our entire house.

This move is incredibly bittersweet for us. While we’re excited for this new adventure and there are definitely many positives for us with this move, there are also many things & people that we are going to miss dearly about the city that has been our home these past few years.

This is the place where we discovered on a very intimate level what coping with infertility is all about. This city holds the friends who’ve gathered around us rejoicing with the news of our first pregnancy following IVF and then held us as we grappled with the loss of our daughter. This is where we welcomed our son into the world and have reveled in watching him grow and develop.

There are several things about this place I’m going to miss so much and the thought of leaving them hits me with a wave of sadness. Lily’s tree, which we planted in our front yard, is one of the most difficult to leave behind. I remember when we planted it in her honor by planting new life in our little corner of the world in the hopes it would live on for many years. A symbolic remembrance that she will always be a part of our home and that in some ways her short life will continue to live on in various forms in this world. Now we have to leave it behind and hope the new owners will care for this tree and help it to thrive.

These are the things I’m going to have to grieve as we say goodbye to another chapter of our lives and embrace the next journey we find ourselves on. Life is a complexity of experiences and as we begin to travel another road in our lives we are filled with anticipation of all that awaits us.