Spiderwebs and For Sale Signs....

 My alarm went off at O-dark thirty this morning, and I struggled to convince myself to get out of bed. I knew I needed to hop up and get myself going. I had decided I needed to fit in a morning walk before work, because our dinner plans downtown would preclude an evening trip to the gym. If I didn't hit the pavement soon, however, I would definitely miss my window of opportunity for the day.

It took fifteen minutes to motivate myself, but I finally rolled out of bed, threw on my work-out clothes and headed out the door. I decided to head to the paths that skirted the neighborhood and wove their way along the edge of the forest that abutted us. This probably would have been a great idea later in the morning, but it was still early enough in the day that the spiderwebs that had been spun the night before amongst the low lying tree branches had not been disturbed yet. That was the case, at least, until I managed to walk right through them.  I'm sure I was quite the sight as I raced up the path trying to pull off the threads of the webs that were clinging to me with one hand while I swatted away at the imagined spiders crawling through my hair with the other one.

I left the paths and headed back to the spiderweb free streets of my neighborhood.  I surveyed the houses as I walked along. This one had the prettiest Hydrangea bush. That one needed some love and care. The one with the red shutters had the greenest grass! And then I came upon the "For Sale" sign in front of my good friend's home. I suddenly felt a lump in my throat. I had walked passed this sign multiple times already this month, but for some reason this morning, it brought tears to my eyes.

This would be a summer of change. Two sets of our good friends were moving away. Even though we had spent much of our lives as military nomads who had mastered the art of saying adieus, it somehow felt different this time around. Perhaps because we were retired now, I had imagined that meant we were done having to say Goodbyes. More likely I knew because we were all retired or nearing retirement, running into each other at another duty station was no longer a hope we could cling to to ease the difficulty of moving on.

As I headed back towards my home, and I tried to shake off the sudden sadness that had seeped into my morning, I reminded myself that these weren't just military friends, they were military family. We had seen each other through illnesses and deaths, 9/11 and subsequent deployments, promotions, graduations, celebrations and more. We had laughed together, cried together, and made lifelong memories together. Our zip codes wouldn't define our relationships; our past had already done that for us. So to the Lieb's and The Garrison's....we will miss you with all of hearts, but are so very excited for you as you embark on your next adventure.  To the Hurley's and The Chaney's, we are so thankful that you are still near! For all of you, the challenge is on now for us to plan the first awesome reunion!