Great friends are hard to find.

Growing up in a small town, I never struggled to have friends. Even with all the catty girl fights, I still had lots of people who I counted on as friends. Even entering college, I found an awesome group of girls that I absolutely loved calling my friends. Then I became a momma (at a very young age) and finding friends wasn't the first thing on my mind. I started worrying about whether my own child would find great friends. I wondered if he would have the same opportunities to have close friends as his dad and I did. When we moved to the country, I worried about whether he would ever have really close friends. I was thankful when we moved back to a neighborhood and he found his best friend. He will start at a new school in the fall and my first worry again is...will he make new friends, will they be friends that share in our values, will he find the right crowd? Then of course my worries go on to Merrick. She is not in preschool yet and I worry if she will find friends, if she will know how to make friends, and I worry if she will know how to be a good friend. As mom's we always put our kiddos first and want what is best for them over what is best for ourselves. But in a little over a month, I will be back to having these same thoughts, but this time they will be for myself.

My great friend, Jen, is moving. Her hubby got an awesome offer from a company and they are moving away from KC. What am I going to do??? Jen has been a really awesome friend for the last 4 years. I met Jen when I started working in Liberty almost 5 years ago. I was pregnant with Merrick at the time. She had just found out she was pregnant with Nicholas. She was really good friends with one of my SPED colleagues. The first year at our school didn't give us much opportunity to get to know eachother. I was part time at our school and I didn't work with her kids. I went on maternity leave in November and by the time I came back, it was Christmas Break. Jen went on maternity leave right after Christmas and was out with Nicholas for a long time. Of course after our first year, I had become better friends with my colleague and in turn became better friends with Jen. Our first outing together was that summer at the Zoo, after that outing I felt an instant connection with Jen. She understands me, we can be real with eachother, and we had lots in common. I absolutely love her and look up to her. She always knows whats going on and is always giving me great advice on anything and everything. She became an instant friend who I don't see often, but can pick up where we left off the minute we see eachother. Now she's leaving and I am feeling very sad. Although we only are able to do playdates a few times a year, I just know that it won't be the same when she is gone. Now of course I know that I am not losing Jen as a friend, but many of my blog readers can attest that I don't do a great job of being a long distance friend. I am terrible at calling friends and thus I lose great people that way. So my first goal is to continue to be a great friend to you Jen. I hope we can still talk once a week cause I am gonna need it!

But now I am back to thinking who am I going to do playdates with? Who can I chat with when I have a miserable day. Who will listen to my worries about my kids. Who's kids are going to get along and understand my Merrick and Macy as well as Nicholas and Matthew did. Ughh... For now, I will enjoy my last month with Jen. Please know I am going to miss you something terrible Jen, Nicholas, and Matthew. Thanks for all the great times. Enjoy the pictures from our playdates this week at Fun Run and the Peace Pavillion!!!

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