Goodbyes

On Friday we said goodbye to the C's, our neighbors across the street. They are moving out to Arizona next week. This week is Disneyland and driving. It was sad to see the big moving truck show up last Thursday, and also a little surprising, as Carmen had said they weren't going until the 2nd. When your new company is moving you, a wonderful thing happens.... a big truck full of shiny new cardboard boxes in various sizes shows up at your door, along with men to pack your stuff into those boxes. What a wonderful thought! I have always moved myself, which means that I have scoured the earth for crappy cardboard boxes of various sizes (looking in the back lots of grocery stores, and in the corrugated recycling bins near large companies), packed them myself, and begged my friends to help put all my boxes and heavy furniture in the awful U-Haul (with the promise of bagels, coffee, pizza and soda, or all of the above!). How nice to have paid professionals do that for you! Anyway, I digress..... it was very sad to see our neighbors go. I will miss our impromptu meetings on the street, early evening soccer games with little boys, and conversations with another mother who assures me that I'm not going insane (although it still feels like it sometimes).

We moved to this neighborhood in 2004, when Brandon was only 9 months old. Our good friends live just 4 doors down, and said it was a great place to live. The C's moved in the next year during summer, with their 3 boys. Brandon just loved playing with Kyle, a year and a half older, and Ryan, who is just a few months younger than Brandon. At the same time, The B's moved in next door to us. Their son, Edison, is also near Brandon's age. Another stay at home mom in the neighborhood! Yeah! It's been so wonderful. Our kids play, we talk, and I get to actually know my neighbors. I can't recall a time since childhood when I knew so many people in such a close radius to my home. The C's and the B's moved here within a week of each other - both from Utah. The C's moved Friday. The B's are moving to New York tomorrow. Odd how it all works. I'm sorry to see both of them go. The nice thing is that the boys from both families played here during the pack and move times, so Brandon got to spend time with all the boys before they left. Right now Edison and Brandon are attempting to nap in the same room. I'm still hearing a lot of ruckus. We'll see how it goes. They have 5 more minutes before I do a room check.

Brandon has really been out of sorts since he learned that the C's and B's were moving. He gets really sad, and I have to pry a reason out of him. When I told him the C's were moving, and that the big truck across the street was packing up all their stuff, he cried. He then said "but Emily's not moving?" I said no. "And Edison's not moving." That time I had to say yes. So he asked again, "but Emily's not moving?" No. At least Emily isn't going anywhere for the time being. Brandon might break apart! He got very sad on Friday evening. I asked what was wrong, and he wouldn't tell me. I kept asking until he told me he didn't want to move, and that he wanted to stay in our house "all day long" (which really means forever and ever). He also mentioned that he didn't want to move because he wanted to still play with his trains. Funny how the little ones don't realize that moving involves the whole family, and that we'll take all our toys with us. We've been talking of moving away as well, since housing prices are astronomically high here. I'm sure Brandon has picked up on it, and is processing that in his little brain as well. I guess we'll just have to deal with that when the time comes. I just hope he can deal with the sight of his toys being packed up without being permanently traumatized by the whole ordeal!