The Last...

The Last...

• 7.20.2011

Our last days here in New York have arrived. I have gone on my last run, ridden my bike around the lake for the last time, and walked around the farm one last time. We’ve also filled every day with friends, picnic parties, and our favorite activities. I think we have made the most of our last days here.

One night this week Bron and I took Jed to the beach at Point au Roche. We had fun as a family playing in the water and digging holes in the sand. It was a picture perfect evening.

Saturday was the annual Miner Institute Summer Picnic Party at the park. There was catered barbeque food, a bouncy house, water balloons, and lots of yard games including volleyball and corn hole. It was a fun afternoon with everyone.

We love being parents.

Sunday was our very last day in the Plattsburgh branch at church. Hooray! Bron and I were grinning from ear to ear. It was kind of weird to hear the phrase, “Have a good life!” But it was said by folks who really meant it and I appreciate that. I had only one moment of weakness when I said goodbye to Gina. I’m glad she and her family made a hasty exit because I think I might have cried. It’s sad to think I might not ever see her again; she’s been such an awesome friend.

Another night we got together with some of our favorite people here—Anna, Roxanne, and Natasha (Bron jokes that we are his harem)—for kabobs on the grill and ice cream at Creamies. Against better judgment, Jed got his very own ice cream cone. Before I knew it, Jed was slipping across the bench on ice cream. So I let him run around and he covered himself in chocolate stickiness and gravel. Jed had the dirtiest bath water I’ve seen thus far in his life. But he was so cute and happy!  After Jed went to bed, the girls came over and we just relaxed in the living room and chatted for a few hours. We are really going to miss them!

Finally, we went to an official farewell party for Bron and a PhD graduate. Great food, a few games of volleyball, and a happy little boy who played with the big kids’ tractors, made for a wonderful evening out. The community here at Miner Institute is one-of-a-kind. I feel privileged to have been a part of it!

So New York, I guess this is good-bye. Our two years here have flown by in a blink of an eye, and yet, so much has happened too.  Our time here has been both a challenge and an adventure. We have learned and grown in ways I never would have dreamed for us. We have made some incredible memories too. I am glad that we can claim a little bit of you, from the autumn foliage to Jedediah’s birthplace. Some of the people we have crossed paths with will always hold a special place in our hearts. I feel blessed to know them. I don’t know if we will ever be back, New York. The thought of a final ending here makes me sad, but I am also very excited to begin our new life.

Farewell, New York! I’ll be looking in the rear-view mirror as we drive away, but I’ll be facing forward too.