Growing Pains: Learning to Say Goodbye

I think it's fair enough to say that I can announce to the blogging world that my sister has moved to Texas. She arrived in Dallas yesterday, and let me tell you, there are some heavy hearts in this house. 

Thursday evening we enjoyed a family dinner before saying goodbye to Jesse. I've been preparing Isabella, and in turn, myself: "Mama, I just don't want Jesse to go." "I know, I don't want her to go either, but we have to be excited for her because this is a really good opportunity for her." And so it went, Thursday evening, on a teary ride back home. 

I snuggled with Isabella in bed that night, and told her it was okay to be sad. I thought about how Isabella has reached an age where loss and distance are real. She is learning to say goodbye (with the anticipation of a visit to Texas, of course), and also learning that situations change regardless of whether we want them to, or not. Isaac doesn't understand, but in Isabella's mind, she's losing the one who paints her nails, lets her cuddle in her lap, listens to her endless chit chat, and most importantly, the one who wears fancy clothes and always looks like a princess. She always looks forward to seeing Jesse (and so do I, she is my sister after all) and now it will be several months before we have a chance to see her again. 

Isabella awoke the next morning and said, "tears were falling down my face all night long." Later she came inside and told me she was "just trying to catch a sparrow to be her friend so that she would stop thinking about Jesse." It's so hard to watch her grasp these seasons of change. I have found that as I hold my child's hand in these situations (the death of my grandfather, and my sister's move) it becomes hard for me to process my own grief and sadness. When you have kids, there isn't time to stop, there's barely time to write this post with minimal interruptions. I haven't decided if that's a good thing or not. Maybe it just means everything is bottled up and one day I'll explode (picture self exploding--I feel it's entirely possible). 

Okay, moving on before all of my readers enter a completely depressed state of mind. 

I promise, we are excited for you, Jess! Texas is just so far away! 

And now, some (happy) pictures from an evening spent outside...

Take charge, little man. 

Oh my, how she is changing. 

Those two are inseparable. I'm pretty sure Isaac could manage any situation as long as Isabella is along acting as his personal assistant.