It's the Most "Difficult" Time of the Year!

Let me first tell you about one of the most difficult days of my life...In the Spring of 2001, the King Family (Just Other Guy & I at the time) met a family that would forever change our family makeup. We finally decided to join a small group at the church we attended...and there they were. He was tall, she...well wasn't, not compared to him anyway. They had two little boys that would melt your heart with just a smile. They were very nice and spoke with a strong southern accent...man, it feels good to make fun of somebody else for that...but they were guarded. I guess looking back they had every right to be. I have seen people come and go in their lives simply because of who he was and who he did or didn't work for. There were few people in their lives that ever took the opportunity to simply get to know her for who SHE was not who she was married to.

He was getting ready to head off to Europe for a couple of months and she was pregnant with their third child. My precious Monkey Doodle! I can't tell you why, but God weighed something so heavy on my heart that night...He wanted me to reach out to them. Not in a normal way, but with such fire and determination that they would never take no for an answer.

There were times that I felt like I was almost stalking them. I always tried to never let more than two days go by without speaking. I dropped in whenever I could, chased kids, laughed at stories, ate AMAZING food and just listened.

After Monkey Doodle was born, it came crashing down why God wanted this friendship to not only form but last. Not so tall chick was admitted to the hospital and tall guy's job basically said "too bad, so sad...hire a nanny!" So, there I was...I helped in whatever capacity I could including letting that sweet baby sleep on my chest every night while his Mommy got better. I cooked, cleaned, whatever they needed I did. Other Guy and I would come over after work and have dinner, etc.

Well, fast forward 10 months and there I stood in their driveway. Other Guy and I were heading to Mexico on a missions trip and they, this adopted family of mine, well they were leaving too. Not just on a trip but for good. His job had called him to another city and they were leaving while we were in Mexico. I tried to be strong but the tears soon began to flood down. I hugged them all and said we would see them soon. They tried to be strong too but as soon as I hugged tall guy's neck...I whispered, "Please take care of my family...I love you guys!" Well, that did it, he was crying too!

I am happy to say that Eight years later, that friendship is still going strong and we now live in the same city. I thought the tough days, the tough goodbye's, the tough "I'll see ya soon's" were over...WRONG!!

My sister Natasha and her hubby, "My Darryl" came to visit for a whole week this Christmas and it was AMAZING!!! You see this was our first Christmas morning together...EVER. We had always spent those holidays with our mom's and tried to squeeze Dad in later in the day and sometimes it was at the same time, sometimes not.

We cooked together, laughed, played, danced...you name it. And before I could blink...the time was over. It was time for them to get on a plane. It was time to say, I'll see ya soon, even though we had no clear clue of when that "soon" would be.

I will say this, I miss my sister and Darryl more than I could ever describe in words and I know we will see each other again. After all, we missed the "tall and not so tall" family so much we just moved to be closer to them...On a side note, if anybody out there in Blog world works for Harley Davidson, maybe put in a good word for My Darryl ;0)

Peace Out!!!