drive by visits

There's a huge lesson you learn in life (or I should say are FORCED to learn in life) that over the years friends and family spread further and further away from each other, moving to all the corners of the country. Thankfully, these times come and go throughout the many seasons of life but unfortunately more often than not life moves you away from those you love most. I try my hardest to learn the lessons life throws my way but this is one that I fight tooth and nail, digging my heels in hanging on with all my might NOT to learn. I hate it. There is nothing exciting about living far away from your friends and family. If I was FORCED to find a silver lining it would be that distance truly does make the heart grow fonder and so my few and far between visits with far away friends and family are especially sweet. BUT...I still refuse to admit that this is enough of a silver lining to make it worth it.

When my sister, Rae, and her family moved to Dallas earlier this year it was sad. We already lived two hours away from them here in Oklahoma and now their move to Dallas has put them four and a half hours away. We went from being close enough for a single day visit to needing to spend the night for a visit. I'm not complaining about having to spend the night at her house (that part is actually awesome!) but the fact that our visits have to be planned much further in advance and more intentional is frustrating. Now months later we are starting to get used to it. Late this summer when my sister had to come to Oklahoma and would just be passing through Oklahoma City we took full advantage of our close proximity and met up for breakfast. It was probably only a two hour visit (tops!) but it was so much fun. We met at I-Hop and talked more than we ate! While the distance between us has grown we are determined not to let that keep us TOO far apart. The effort is certainly worth the reward! And obviously sometimes that effort is tiring! Ha! Maddox didn't even make it home from breakfast without falling asleep...