As Told By Molly

Flashback Friday:

Good bye Little-Big Town.

One day more. Tomorrow is what I’ve been calling “The Muscle Day” because it’s the biggest of our moves; all the heavy stuff is getting loaded and gone. Next week will be used to clean and pack all that random stuff that shows up just as the last box gets used. Happens every time. Here’s the part where I should warn you that I’ve been feeling a little emotional. Nah, “little” is an understatement. I’m pregnant people, remember? Emotional has become my middle name….oh poor, patient, sweet Olen…. So, things are about to get down right mushy up in here. If you can’t handle mush, then you might want to click your back button now. Well, I’m not emotional about selling my house because the whole process has been nothing short of a miracle and the product of great timing. Plus the Seymore family (our buyers) is fabulous and makes me happy to leave our home in their loving hands. (R.H. ward: you’re going to love them!) The huge lump forms in my throat when I think about pulling up our tiny roots that have began to sprout in our Little-Big Town and take them back to my hometown to grow for awhile. Man, I’m really gunna miss it here.

The flashbacks begin. We moved here because Olen and I built a little dream house on a big piece of land. We raised chickens and pigs, one dog and a son. We had the best neighbors on all sides and thought life couldn’t get any better. Then we had a daughter and life got better. We decided to “branch” out and moved a quarter mile away to a new neighborhood. Bigger house, smaller land but still managed to have the best neighbors. We made new friendships with old high school acquaintances and watched our families grow together and ate a lot of Starbursts doing it. Although not nearly often enough. I learned that running down a morning farm road with the smell of wet soil and new cotton blossoms on my skin is pretty much how I picture the roads in heaven. My Sunbeams are about to go into the second grade, my Bear Scouts are passing the sacrament, and my Mia Maids are getting ready for marriage, or in college and traveling the world, or enjoying the blessings of motherhood. Porter is in school with the same boys he started nursery with and London has play dates with the girls that were blessed the same month as she was three years ago.

We went on vacations with friends when money didn't matter and had friends over for pot luck dinners when we realized money doesn’t matter. We stared new careers and then a new business and felt the support of our family, friends and community the whole way. I met the most unlikely bunch of night owls and loved every cart pushing, late night snacking, mommy story swapping minute of it. Every time I see a highlighted barcode on a sign I will think of my Ad Set Ladies and hope they are getting a nap today. But what makes the lump in my throat harder to swallow is that I know it’s time for us to move on. You don’t just think one day, “I wonder if our house would sell if we tried.” and then within a month it does. You don’t just get the best buyers you could ask for and then have everything go just right. You don’t just have that happen unless there’s a reason. You just know there is a reason. Today really (really) will be the first day of my blog hiatus. For reals. Like I said, Muscle Day is going to be bananas and then comes The Campout (that you’re all invited to) and then, well, I’m sure by then there will be stories to be told.

I will be back to tell them. Just from a new zip code.