Today was our last Sunday at Church. Next Sunday we will be sitting in a new ward, in a different part of town, with all new faces. I can't help but pause for a moment and sigh.
I have been so melancholy lately. Well, actually that is not completely true. I inherited from my Latino heritage, the uncanny ability to get quite emotional to the point of becoming sappy. Every since I gave birth (three years ago!), I have been able to cry at the drop of a hat. (My husband would tell you that this has always been the case with me and he just might be right!) So, my point is that it's hard for me to say goodbye without shedding a tear (because, boy, when it starts up, it's like Niagra Falls!). This makes it hard for me to talk to anybody past all the blubbering. This is precisely what happened to me today at Church. I had every intention of walking up to everybody, giving them a hug and saying goodbye while getting some photos in. Well, I regret that it didn't happen. Every time I tried, I would start tearing up. I only managed to snap these couple of photos. I guess I just don't like saying goodbye, but then again, I actually do feel the need to do it.
Anyway, I just have to keep reminding myself that we are not moving out of the country or the state for that matter. We are just moving across town. I'm also sad about leaving Brooklyn. Again I have to remind myself that while we will not be living in Brooklyn, we will still continue to be members of the Park Slope Food Coop and that means I can still come out to Brooklyn to enjoy all the unique shops, wonderful parks and scenery, and hopefully visit some friends.
While I am happy about our "new" house (which, by the way, is coming along nicely and will be more or less move-in ready for next Saturday), I am also sad about leaving this ward. We came into this ward as giddy newlyweds hoping to make lots of friends. We leave here now, not only with the added responsibility of a family and a "new" house to boot, but also with a few cherished friends and few extra pounds around the waist. More importantly, we leave here with a stronger testimony of the Gospel from all the learning opportunities we have had and from so many great lessons from outstanding teachers. We are so glad that we met all these fine people, and even more glad that they actually chose to come live here and help out in this part of the Lord's vineyard. Our off hats to you! Thank you!
Going back to the matter at hand, what has me panic-stricken right now is all the packing and the big move this Saturday. It must be said that I am not used to moving. In fact, I have only moved once in my life (not counting my mission, when I got married or when we moved two floors down to a slightly bigger apartment). When I married Bill, it wasn't so much as a big move then it was a big change in my life. Knowing that I would be moving into my husband's bachelor pad (read: very small studio apartment), I only brought with me my clothes and my dresser. Since then we have managed to gradually accumulate lots of stuff, thinking it was a good thing to be frugal. "Waste not, want not." Now, we are in the middle of the daunting task of packing and purging. I just pray that we will be able to get everything packed before Saturday.
The "things I will miss about Brooklyn" I will leave for a separate post for when I actually have time to sit and cry yet again.
Liam with his friend Darion
Daddy and Liam (with Liam's "Brooklyn train" behind them)
4 comments:
Oh, I didn't know it was your last Sunday here. For some reason I thought you would be there one more and I missed saying goodbye to you. :( I know W has his Saturday reserved to help you move. Is there anything I can do to help?
You did pretty good not saying goodbye to me. But don't worry. You haven't left yet. There's still time, and I'll be seeing you soon. :)
Seriously, though, you will be missed, so you'd better come back. We'll do our best to come to your new place as often as we can, but you should know up front that it's not incredibly easy for me to pack everyone up to go to the other side of town. We'll do our best, though. In the meantime, do call me whenever you're in the neighborhood or at your co-op or whatever. I will miss Martha as much as Garrett will miss Liam. (Have I told you that whenever we walk by your building, Garrett points to it and says "Miam. There." It's pretty cute.)
It's funny that, even though you're not moving geographically far, I'm sure it will feel like a world away, esp starting over in a new ward. It can be hard but I'm sure you guys will find some more awesome friends and will be too happy relaxing in your backyard to miss us a ton :) But seriously, it won't be the same without you guys. That ward in Little Neck is lucky.
We will miss you! It has been great getting to know your family over the past year and a half. We will miss Liam in nursery. He is always the first one to offer a prayer and is so cute all the time. I hope you enjoy your new home and keep in touch.
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