Thursday, August 15, 2013

Arrivals and Departures...I like Arrivals better

The start of a new school year has always signaled to me the end of summer, even though the calendar says we have a solid 5 or 6 weeks left of summer. As I take a glance back at my summer, I realize is was full of arrivals and departures. The arrivals started on May 19th when Luna "arrived" to spend the night. She's spent many nights here with us but this was a milestone as she slept all through the night! She is still very much a need-my-mommy-at-night-girl so this truly was major! On May 23rd, Annalyse "arrived" to spend a few days at the farm with Ma and Pa. Some may say those 2 arrivals are not arrivals at all, merely visits. But to this Ma, every visit with my now 8 children and 2 grandchildren is a noteworthy arrival!
  On June 9th, we had many "arrivals" as we celebrated 3 major events in our family. Jared and Melody's marriage, Thomas's graduation from Ball State University, and Sarah's upcoming mission to the Philippines.It's always wonderful celebrating good stuff with our families and friends, it was a great day!



In July we had more "arrivals." My parents and my youngest brother came to Indiana for our two family reunions. What fun! I don't get to see them as much as I would like to so I was very grateful to be with them. Of course, with each of our reunions, there were LOTS of arrivals!!!! So fun to visit with aunts, uncles, cousins and to catch up with each other. During this time, we were blessed with "arrivals" from Ryan, Betty Jo, and Annalyse also.


In August, Thomas, Yasumi, and Luna "arrived" at the farm to stay for 3 weeks between the time they lived in Vincennes and the time they could move into their new apartment at Purdue. What a wonderful "arrival", to have them with us full-time! Luna loved the farm and we loved having them here. Each day she would enthusiastically greet her Pa ready to do chores! She got to know all of the animals and started calling them by name.

Unfortunately, you can't have arrivals without having a few departures and so the other half of the equation went like this. On May 27th, Thomas, Yasumi, and Luna "departed" Muncie and the only apartment they had known in their 3 1/2 years of married life and moved to Vincennes for 5 weeks so Thomas could take a required class before starting at Purdue. We helped them pack up and make that move which allowed us to visit a scenic path we had never before taken.

On June 17th, my darling daughter Sarah flew to Utah to report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo to begin her 18 month mission for the church. She was excited so I had to be too. Sarah's "departure" was so hard for me. No matter how many times you send a child off, and this was my 5th, it's never easy. It was a very difficult good-bye for this missionary mom. But she "arrived" in the Philippines ready to serve and to be the hands of the Lord in a land very far away.

My very good friend, Eunsook, "departed" with her family to take the vacation of her dreams to Mexico and South America. They will never forget the memories they made. I am happy she is back though! Also, "departing" for only a short time was Jared and Melody. It's that magical time in their young married life to look for employment upon completion of residency for Melody and graduate school for Jared. They made short trips to New Mexico, Colorado, and Nebraska. I vote Nebraska, but I'm not in charge of that one!

So, from womb to tomb, our lives are constantly full of arrivals and departures. It's just a fact of life. You really cannot have one without the other. But my personal preference is, and probably always will be.....arrivals!!!! On one other note....my bruised face almost healed! Son # 3 (JMS) says it now just looks like I didn't get a very good night's sleep the night before!! Life is good and I feel blessed, arrivals and departures included.




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