And they're off :(

What can I say?  Our dear friends got a dream job that is taking them far, far away.  How could I not be absolutely happy that their dreams have come true?  I am happy for them.  I just may not realize it today, as they pull away from our house with their moving van and all those kids we love.

Timber brought cookies and flowers when times were tough.   She visited baby Roo and I in the hospital, not realizing that it would be her turn for a hospital stay with her baby only days later.  She was the reason Basia got to participate in tons of field trips and activities when it got too tough for me to take her.  She was the kind of friend who came right over to watch my kids with zero notice when I got in to see the dentist.  She also came right over when I realized Cassia was about to have a birthday party with no one to attend.  She was faithful to our book club until the end.   We shared birthdays and holidays and carpools and homeschool co-ops and new babies and park days and various moments of drama.  We texted pictures of the various ailments our kids had during the horrible winter months to see if the other could diagnose the rash or figure out the symptoms.

The gingerbread houses, oh the gingerbread houses!

Yes, the list could go on and on and on and on and on.  She has been that great of a friend to me and my family.  There will be no replacing her, and a hole will be left.  Yes, we will still have texts and blogs and social media, and we will someday knock on her door up in Montana (in the summer heat wave), but there's nothing like having that sort of friend just down the street.  I feel like I had it made in the friend department, and now I'm going to have to start over, only this time the bar is set ridiculously high because I have experienced the best of friends in Timber.