Step by Step

We have eleven days and a few hours left in this town.

Our guest room is piled with stuff we will sell Saturday.

We met with a real estate agent today.

It is all becoming very real. However, I am not finding myself sad or depressed.

We have spent six great years in this community. We have felt a lot of pain and pride. We have encountered people that have helped us grow (from both very positive influence and very, very negative influence). We bought our first house here. We have been involved with countless architectural, planning and community changes. Some were fought for tooth and nail, some came very easily. We can look back at our time in Springfield and know that we did something. Maybe not much, but we had a part in making the city and our community a better place. We are blessed.

But now we must go, and I am not sad. I am looking forward to the next city and the next set of opportunities. We have experience now. We can use our recently gained knowledge to better another neighborhood. We will be closer to family. We will get to attend birthday parties and performances. We can help my dad start a garden again. We have so much life to live that it is hard to be sad.

Yes, we will be leaving a lot of great people. People that will never be replaced. Some we will see again, some we will not. But all will be remembered.

This city and those who have crossed our paths have helped to shape us. It seems that we have both changed more here than any other time and place in our lives. Maybe it's maturity. Whatever it is, Springfield is a part of us. The memory and experiences will be forever etched in our minds and our hearts. We will tell our children about our adventures here, about the people, about the places. Eventually, some of our ashes will return for a final resting place.

But I am not sad. I am happy to have had the experience. It was our "Big Adventure".