Welcome Back to the Pinball-Machine-Life

After our crazy year with Miss B's diagnosis, Dr. C's PhD, Miss B's birth, Open Heart surgery and then our move down here to a state I'd never even visited before...I was in desperate need of a soft place to land.  We had been living the pinball-machine life and I craved feeling like I was settled into Home. 

The South has taken me in, showed me some amazing hospitality, soothed my soul, and treated me like family.  And while The Village can't provide all of the things the city-girl in me misses; The Village has given me respite from the weariness I felt when we arrived.

So when Dr. C applied for a job back in the midwest back in August and asked me if I was ready to move again, I told him I'd think about it if he got an offer.

When he asked again after the phone interview back in September, I said I'd let him know when I saw the offer letter in his hand.

And then after they flew him up there for in in-person interview in October; and I felt like a little kid sticking her fingers in her ears--na-na-na-I'm-not-listening!

And then the offer letter came two weeks ago.

And I had to seriously think about moving. 

AGAIN.

Our sixth move in 9 1/2 years of marriage.

As we thought about it and prayed about it...I was conflicted.  We have been digging in here...we have our friends-that-are-family, Dr. C loves his job here, I was finally making progress on a Down syndrome group, Miss B is in the most wonderful preschool and has amazing therapists, T-Man and Fearless are excelling in school. 

Most of all, how could we walk away from the people and the place that took care of us when we needed it most? 

It is times like this...the times when you have a choice between good and good...that praying and receiving answers to your prayers is the only way to move forward with confidance.  I didn't know what we should do--Should we uproot our family again for the unknown?  Should we stay and make The South our permanent home? 

After much prayer, apparently God wants us bounce back into the pinball-machine-life and we have decided that our time in The South is coming to an end--Dr. C starts his new job in Des Moines, Iowa on Dec. 5th.

I know this is the right decision, but it is with a heavy heart that I have been getting our first home ready to sell...ready to be enjoyed for years to come by some other family.  And while I'm excited to live closer to my sisters...I will deeply miss all of my Southern family here.

Even though The Village and The South aren't going to be our lifetime-Home, I will always look back on these two and half years with gratitude for the wonderful people that have made my family part of their family; for the place that was a balm to my frayed nerves as I began our new journey having a child with special needs; for teaching me that slowing down is a good way of life; for giving us that soft place to land.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

Sad

Sad. 

The emotion of today.

Two things have made my heart hurt today.

The first is about little Lera, who has, once again, lost her adoptive family and will soon be put in an institution where she will be chained to a bed, neglected, and will most likely die--alone and scared.  If I could, I would adopt all of the children from Reece's Rainbow and bring them home and love them to pieces.  My heart breaks for this little girl that has such potential, but without an adoptive family, her potential will never be fulfilled. 

The other is that my facebook friend and fellow Ds mom, Joany, lost her daughter today.  Carly was only 8 years old.  She got very sick, very quickly, and passed away.  Just yesterday, Joany was talking about Carly at school and now her family is grieving for her.

So, so sad.

Everyone go hug your babies a little tighter today.