Saying goodbye is a hard thing to do......

As much as I love my parents, nothing can touch my heart like the way they adore my kids.  Saying goodbye for a year means that there are no soccer and flag football games to attend, no Thanksgiving or Christmas celebrations together and no spontaneous overnighters with Nana and Papa.  Saying goodbye was really, really hard on all of us, but of course, my pops finds ways to make us feel so loved and special.

 

Measurements in the garage and estimates on how much each child will grow in a year.

 

And photos of each child to document the years changes.

Alex and Hayhay on one more boat run

Saying goodbye to friends isn't any easier.  We have a "parallel family" where all three of our kids are the best of friends, as are the adults.  We see each other regularly and over the past 10 years, have become as tight as family to each other.  Our 10 year old boys, in particular, are very close.  Watching their embraces and then tears was heartbreaking.  Two boys, who treat each other as brothers (except they've never fought in the 10 years they've been alive) are both struggling as the early days go by.  Alex with quiet edginess, Haydin with open sorrow.  That's a tough one to watch. Luckily, in this day and age, texting and facetime, we'll be able to keep in contact a lot easier.