Saying Goodbye to Neighbors

We moved into our house in 2000 to a neighborhood of mostly original owners, who were in their 70's. Within a few years the neighborhood began to shift to young families. In 2005 the house across the street from us sold and to our delight the family that moved in had 2 young girls. The oldest, Molly, was in Emma's grade. This was especially good because Emma, who was changing from our Parrish school to enter 2nd grade at our public school, would go through the transition with a classmate. The 2 of them have been friends ever since. Erin, their younger daughter, was in between Rachael and Megan's ages. Our girls played with Molly and Erin regularly. They came to our house and vice versa. Aside from riding the same school bus for 5 years, Em and Molly were also in the same Girl Scout troop and on the same field hockey team. In elementary school Emma was very emotionally attached to Molly, sometimes maybe too much. They grew up and by middle school they found a balance and a great friendship.

Between school and scouts, their Mom, Laura and I spent many mornings chatting and planning carpools. Laura and Rick are incredibly generous and thoughtful, and were always willing to loan a tool or carry a heavy load. Laura is an exceptionally creative person and always had something in the works, from giant bubble wands, to a miniature Mount Rushmore for GS camp. It was always inspiring to listen to her good ideas or just talk and vent about current circumstances. It was such a blessing to have another Mom across the street, to be an emergency back-up but also a friend.

Right before Thanksgiving these great neighbors moved to Pittsburgh. We knew it was coming for months, but it wound up being a warp mode move. The house sold in the first few days on the market and they were set to move before Thanksgiving instead of over Christmas like we were expecting. The lead up to the move was hard for Emma and she frequently threw in the fact that Molly was moving to any request to spend time with her. We made it a point to give Emma extra leeway and time.  Emma recounted their first meeting for me.

• Molly: Hi, my name is Molly.
• Emma: Hi, my name is Emma.
• Molly: My favorite color is purple.
• Emma: Mine too!
• Molly: Hey do you want to play Polly Pockets?
• Emma: Sure!

The two of them have come a long way from playing Polly Pockets together. Now it is discussing cellphones, music and middle school drama. Emma misses having Molly to walk and talk with on the way to the bus each morning and to goof around with at scouts, but texting has certainly kept the 2 of them connected. They are lucky to have such technology.

We will definitely miss them and we pray that they have an easy transition.