Okay, so the metaphorical term may be a bit dramatic, but I figured it was finally time to write my goodbye post to this short chapter in my family’s life. I thought a lot about how to write this post. Fun and lighthearted with the occasional moving pun here and there; deep and thought-provoking, diving into the conflicting thoughts of my psyche (like I did when I left Okinawa); I even contemplated making a Letterman-inspired Top 10 list (Me make a list? Shocking!). Since I couldn’t decide, I decided to combine all three for your reading pleasure!
I have been waiting for everything to hit me. When I said goodbye to my students two months ago I figured that truck of emotion was going to show up and hit me dead on, but it didn’t. When I began packing up our things, I waited for it to come, but nothing. When everything was finally out of our house I just knew it was going to run me straight into the ground, but I just stood there. I stood thinking there was something wrong with me. I love our neighborhood. I love my friends here. I love the students I taught. So what was going on?
Well, today was our final day here in NC and it was very busy to say the least (as has been every day for the past two weeks). I dropped Thing 1 off at school, drove to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things we needed for the trip, drove back home and was there just a little bit when the realtor called wanting to show the house (Yippee! There is no sarcasm in that yippee). So, got Thing 2 up from his nap and headed over. After they were done, I headed down to Fayetteville to meet up with the husband for lunch, then went to the Acura dealership to trade in my car. Not a big deal. Just hand over the keys, sign a few things, and leave. Well, a big ‘ol monster truck came out of nowhere and ran me over as I looked out at my car for the last time.
I cried. And cried some more. And held my breath and clenched my jaw to keep from ugly crying because I was mortified enough for crying over a PIECE OF METAL. But, of course, it was more than that. It was all just finally beginning to really sink in.
As I stood in our empty house for the last time today I thought about all of the things I am honestly going to miss about being here. Fayetteville as a town, not so much, but there is so much more to this three year experience than a town. So here is where that Top 10 list comes in. (Imagine a drumroll.)
Top 10 things I will miss about our 3 years in the states:
10. Mellow Mushroom pizza. It took me an hour to eat my last three pieces because I didn’t want the goodness in my mouth to end. If you haven’t had Mellow Mushroom, I feel sorry for you.
9. Cable tv. Well, this is kind of half and half. Most of what is on tv these days I will NOT miss: the news, reality shows, reality shows, reality shows, commercials, crap, more crap, and more crap. Thankfully, overseas we can download a lot of the main stuff we watch, but I am really going to miss OWN and The Food Network.
8. Space. I know this will be true. Closets…cabinets…garages…basements. I think Americans are the only ones who enjoy closet space. Don’t take your closets for granted, people!
7. Convenience. Ah, to be able to run to the store and get something random you need like silly string or zip ties. We have everything at arm’s length here in the states and don’t even realize it. Although, I do eventually enjoy getting out of ‘big industry’, it takes awhile to get used to it all not being there.
6. Location. The Smoky Mountains, the beach, Charleston, Williamsburg…I can go on and on, but I do love this side of the country. So much to see, and we didn’t even get to see everything we intended!
5. My job. I love teaching military kids, so when we moved back stateside I was hoping to still be able to do that with the children at Fort Bragg, and I did! I gained so much from my amazing coworkers and will hold all of those kiddos very close to my heart for years to come.
4. Our house. Our house was perfect for our little family of four. It suited us well and those walls hold some special and life-changing memories for us. After being overseas in a teeny tiny apartment for four years, it was fun to finally get our hands dirty with paint and spackle.
3. My neighborhood. The area around Fort Bragg is not really worth mentioning, but we did find a diamond in the rough when we found our community. It is beautiful, gorgeous, peaceful, family-oriented…I could go on and on, but I am going to miss walking its streets and enjoying the scenery.
2. My friends here in NC. I was very blessed to have some very beautiful women (inside and out) be brought into my life here. We have walked through pregnancies together, deployments together, and many things in-between. I can honestly say my experience here would not have been half as wonderful if it weren’t for the friends I made here. I can’t say enough about them. How blessed I am to have gained such wonderful lifetime friendships. One of the beautiful aspects of military life…
1. Being ‘close’ to family and friends who are stateside. Knowing I am within a an hour or two of my family’s time zone is refreshing. It doesn’t take much planning to pick up the phone and call, and to know I can be there in person to see them within hours is comforting. I can text any of my friends at any time and have a ‘conversation’ about anything. I’m going to miss that convenience. Although, it will be much easier this time around than it was when we moved to Japan because technology has greatly improved since then and we’re not AS far away. To all of you who are the people I speak of (you know who you are): I love you. I love you a ridiculous amount.
And now I’m going to quit because the ugly cry is encroaching…
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