Another Farewell

After January 1st of 2008, our neighbors Jim & Karen moved from North Liberty, IA, to Tulsa, OK. Their son and Alex played a lot and their move was hard for Alex. It was hard for me as well as Jim and I were friends. We both liked a cold beer and good conversation.

Tonight, in Coralville, IA, Jim hosted a surprise party for Karen's 40th birthday. It was a total surprise and it went off without a hitch. A lot of our neighbors were there and it was good to catch up with them since we are, for the most part, gone during the weekends of the summer when we would otherwise be social. This is our 6th and final weekend in Elkader.

Anyways, at the end of the night, about a 1/2 hour ago, we had to say good-bye again to our friends and wish them a safe trip, just like we did in January.

It's funny how life plays tricks on me. I go through something once and it's really hard. Seven months later, I'm faced with the same situation - saying good-bye to Jim and Karen - and even though I have grown as a person, it is still sad to go through the same thing, even though I have accepted that Jim's job is in Tulsa, OK, and will probably never again be in Iowa. I also understand that life brings people into your life for a reason and you should enjoy those people while you can. That is why I was happy to see Jim and Karen and accepting that I had to say another farewell to them. They are special people and I am happy that I lived down the street from them for the time that they were here.

And, on a side note, the international wire transfer happened so I've now been paid for all the freelance Technical Writing work I've done this summer. I still have project C to work on next week, when the kids are on vacation in MI with my parents.