saying goodbye is never fun....

Abigail, me, Margaret....we spent the day together yesterday, tying up loose ends for them, banking, ect. Jonathan came along too, since these two sisters of his are seriously his best friends...



Yeah, I cried this morning after filling that little car with suitcases with them. Seeing Jonathan all teary-eyed was what did me in.

They are leaving for a year. A year is a long time not to see your daughters - your friends. They ARE my friends. And off they went.

They are driving to D.C. today, then spending some time with Samuel before flying out tomorrow to Norway.

Last evening was spent trying to get their suitcases to weigh under fifty pounds. :)

Please pray that Samuel is in fact able to see them, he is taking Abigail's car for the year that she's gone. But sometimes plans go awry, monkey wrenches get thrown in. Apparently there was drama at the Army base for Sam and his fellow soldiers...there was equipment missing, and they were ALL in trouble for it. He texted Margaret and said they had no dinner, and it was late at night, they were being escorted even to the bathroom, and were having to just sit outside until the stuff was found. He was upset because if it isn't resolved, he won't be able to leave and go get the car, and they will just have to park it somewhere? It's so complicated, and they were already having anxiety about traveling....so please pray for Samuel, that things get figured out and he's allowed to leave. He wants so badly to spend a little bit of time this evening with his two sisters before they leave. He gets so lonely down there.

I reminded the girls that God knows and plans all things, and to encourage Sam to trust Him and not get angry and anxious.

Part of me is glad that these things happen, because hey, Sam is seeing how the Army runs, and won't want to re-sign:) That's just the Mom in me. I'm proud of him, of course, and he has really grown up, but having a son in the military is not easy. He's in a good place, but still. Remember those race riots in Baltimore? Guess who was almost sent there? Yeah, they would have been like sitting ducks, with all the angry protesters.

Anyhow. My girls drove away and I'm happy for them but sad at the same time. Having grown up kids is complicated. They can take care of their own selves, yet as the Mom, I feel like they always still need my advice:) I question how they are going to manage so far away, without me...:)

And...I am going to just plain miss them. When Abigail would come over, her siblings would all come out of the woodwork to greet her, to talk to her, to be here with her. She would take them here and there, and let the younger ones spend the night at their place. She didn't have much money, but she spent so much on them anyway. She always had time to sit and talk to me, and she always had a verse or scripture to help if I was troubled about something.

She could laugh at anything, and troubles melt like lemon drops when you are laughing with Abigail.

And Margaret...Miss Marge. She grew up too fast. She graduated early from high school, in January, and started working to save up for her plane ticket. She also blessed her brothers and sisters with her meager part-time pay checks, took them out and about and bought things for them. She was Jon's special late-night-old-television-series-watching-partner.

She knew she was leaving, so she tried to pack as much fun into the summer as possible, and it went by too fast.

The little girls are kids are distracting me, "in a good way," as Sam would say. They want to turn his old room into a gym, and are full of good ideas about it. They are really into gymnastics, and we are going to put some mats on the floor, and a two-by-four for a balance beam, hang some rings....winter-time in New York state is long and cold, so this will definitely be used!

Margaret's room is empty now, and Kathryn is moving in to it. Only eight kids left at home now, we are down to half...wah.

I need to buy candy for the summer conference candy store, the conference starts in a few days. We need to pack, we are moving into the camper on Thursday night and staying there for six nights. I have a meal plan, but have to buy the food, prepare and freeze it, ect. We will have very few kids there with us because on Thursday, Mirielle is leaving with Kathryn and Evelyn, for a ten day trip to Norway, for the summer conference over there at church.

And...bye for now.