...who understands you , even to a spiritual depth

...whose interests are polar opposites from yours, but introduces them to you, and even surprises you by adopting some of yours

...shares your values

...is like a surrogate family member and invites you to be one in theirs

...who will be there, I mean really be there, when you need them

...who becomes an agent to even more good people to surround yourself with

...who loves your children as their own

...that, despite 4,276 kilometres spanning between the two of you, none of the real stuff will change.






An exciting new life awaits my best friend, her three daughters, and the husband who has been preparing their new home for the last year in California. We live in an age where long-distance communication is easy (summer shopping list includes a webcam); when Big Sister and family moved to Thailand, I didn't even have a personal e-mail address, and only dial-up internet service was available.




We will certainly miss having them just around the corner (I've often caught myself in recent months staring at the three girls, especially the little feet and hands of my 9-month old goddaughter), and only God knows how ugly my cry will be on Flyday. But this is a part of our life stories, and I promise to be brave and retain the lessons He is teaching us here.



**I wrote this post a few days ago - take-off is, now, about 22 hours away and I confess that I'm feeling a bit numb and dazed (you're thinking, Ok, so what's new?). I really proud of my Fave (or bff, if you must) and me for making weekly dates in the last few months. We really got a lot done, doing things and going places we'd never done/been to. Visits back up here will always be busy for them, so I don't expect we'd be able to squeeze that kind of QT in anymore, and the same probably goes for our trips down there. Feeling very much at peace about that...I think my lament is more about our kids. But maybe I should get a grip; I already have some beloved kiddies living in the States, and there's never a shortage of love and fond memories going back and forth across the border.