Moving Shmoving

I have moved 13 times in my life. Each move was a good move too. And by good, I don't mean that the moves were always easy but that each move added something positive to my life.

My most recent move was when I married John. THAT has definitely added a lot to my life. Husband, new family, babies, pets, neighbors.... Some day I'll tell you stories about my neighbors.

Today I am thinking of other people moving. It is possible that I have a harder time with friends moving than me being the one who moves. I think it's because of nostalgia. The memories of important moments in my life spent at that person's house replay in my mind and I think, "I'll never be able to visit this place again."

"This is the yard I played Kick the Can and my friend got clotheslined running in the dark."

"There is where the mistletoe hung where I kissed my first love."

"That is the wiggly doorknob that nearly scared my friend to death after we watched Nightmare on Elm Street."

"The 'fort' at my grandparents' house is where we had countless hours of fun and make-believe."

Now I realize that I take on the worry of moving for others too. My client, Miss Hepburn, is moving soon and I wonder what she will be able to take with her. Will she be able to keep her dog? She loves that dog. Will she have a hard time leaving the house that her son built for her and her husband? She has done such a nice job at decorating it. This time it is not my cherished memories that I'm concerned about.... but hers.

Miss Hepburn won't need my services anymore and even though someone else will... I'll miss her because she has become my friend. May your move be a positive one.

O Happy Day

Eight years ago, a new family was founded.
Mr. and Mrs. John Perino
Surrounded by those we love, we entered a covenant.

Thank you to family and friends that help us uphold that covenant.

Thank you to those who made that day wonderful...

and rejoiced with us in our new adventure together.

Aunt Sharon

My aunt, Sharon, went home to be with Jesus last night. With Sharon's passing, I was remembering bits of shared memories. Here's a few of them:

• I remember her singing the tomato song with me on the swing on Grandma and Grandpa's back patio. "They liked it so much.. they liked it from the top of my head to-ma-toes"
• I remember her giving such big bear hugs that I really was afraid of the first hug I would get from her since she literally squeezed the air out of me.
• Sharon would always be ready to play a game with me. Jack and the Beanstalk and Hi Ho Cherry-O were a couple of the favorites when I was little.
• She sang a lot of songs with us and read a lot of books to us.
• I visited her in Indianapolis when I was little. I remember eating cereal with her. (She had the little trial size boxes. Very cool.) I also seem to remember her bathtub.
• I remember meeting Uncle Gene and how happy Sharon was to find her true love.
• It didn't snow that Christmas that we were all together. I remember Gene commenting that it was his first non-white Christmas.
• I remember being sad when Gene died and so sad for Aunt Sharon for being widowed after only a year.
• I was mortified when Sharon made a comment to me about me "becoming a young lady" and wondered who else knew about this!
• There was a time when I felt too old for Aunt Sharon to carry on about me. Aunt Carol relieved Micah and I from being the "babies" when she had Serena.
• When we played Flinch, it was dangerous to sit too close to Sharon since she really got into yelling, "FLINCH!!!".
• Sharon always loved little children and doted on mine whenever she had the chance.
• She was always good for a game of Scrabble.
• Sharon gave me a set of books: Little House on the Prairie. I loved those books. (I also named almost every gerbil I ever had Laura.)
• She was always taking the tabs off our pop cans even when we were still drinking them. She saved them for some fundraiser.
• My boys received a post card from her when she went to Africa.
• She was never afraid to make noise. :0)

Feel free to add your own memories about Sharon by commenting.