saying goodbyes

We spent our last weekend in Pittsburgh with friends, outside - enjoying wine with the laughter of our girls in the background.

I knew we would only spend a year in Pennsylvania.  We arrived with a two week old baby and a three year old little girl, with no friends or family to speak of for miles away.   I knew that the year would be tough and that the winter would be hard.

What I didn't know was that the year would fly by.  That I would make so many dear friends.  Not just "friends", but life-long relationships.  I once believed that I didn't have time for friends anymore.  I barely had time for myself, and my family.  How wrong I was.

I didn't know how much I would grow in my mothering.  How confident I would be this time around.  How many play dates my girls would have.  How many friends they would make here as well.

I didn't know how much we would create a home for ourselves here.  How being apart from our family would make the four of us grow and bond and depend on one another.

If someone would have whispered these things in my ear a year ago, I would not have believed them.  But all of this is true.

I will always look back at my time here with such fond memories ....