Goodbye....

Tonight we said goodbye to friends we have known for 10 years. Wow, 10 years, are we THAT old?! We met Brent and Holly our freshman year of college. All of us were El. Ed. majors, and all of us were from small towns. We bonded, and from that time on, our friendship has grown.

We grew from those 18, 19 and 20 year olds figuring out who we were...into "pushing-thirty" year olds who are still figuring it out.  As I reflected on those years tonight, I felt like I needed to record some of it.

We did lots of double-dates...usually game nights, movie nights and Holly and I making dinner for the boys. (Sometimes they made dinner for us too.) Bryan was Brent's best man in his wedding 7 years ago, and once Brent and Holly were married, we spent lots of time hanging out at their various apartments, helping moving them in and out...and them helping us move in and out of college dorms.

They have been faithful friends all these years, whether it was a couch to crash on after a late movie night, or rescuing us from Lincoln City after we were in a car accident. We helped them move into their first home, and rejoiced as we welcomed their two kids into the world. We have spent lots of evenings making dinners, baking brownies and watching movies. Lots of trips to the beach, and many shopping trips.

Their family has grown to four over the years, and Bryan and I (finally) :) got married. Brent was Bryan's best man in our wedding 3 years ago. Holly was my matron of honor. Their daughter, Madison, was our flower girl. These are the people we have celebrated with, shared our hurts and frustrations, and our joys. I don't think there have been many other people in the world (besides our families) pulling for us the way the Finkbeiners do. They are truly our family that isn't "family." They are our Salem family. We love them dearly and will miss them so much.

As we left their house tonight, we started to realize that we won't be going back to their house for game nights and dinners. Those walls hold so many memories. Saying goodbye is hard. I am so thankful for them having the opportunity to move back to Washington. I know they will never regret their decision. But saying that, means that we have to say goodbye. Maybe "see ya later" is better.

So, "see ya later," Brent and Holly. We love you, we will miss you. Words can't express what your friendship has meant to us. Here's to a decade of friendship, and here's to many decades more. May the Lord richly bless all that you do. Know that you will be lifted in prayer every time we think of you, and we are always rooting for you no matter where you live. We love you!