Mikey

{circa 1989}

{This just happened to be my birthday, Easter Sunday, and our first major holiday after moving to Arkansas}

I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but my brother is moving in 3 days. His serious girlfriend, (and hopefully future in-law!), is going to start her residency at a hospital in Seattle, WA. They discussed it together, and decided he would move with her.

{circa 1986}

{You can tell he loves me already}

I am very happy for him. I know he is going to love living up there and he is in a great relationship. However, I think I'm starting to realize just how hard it's going to be for me.
Not that it should be about me per say.

{circa 1986}

{With our homemade Care Bears!}

You see, it's always been my family against the world. We have LOTS of extended family, but we never lived closer than a 4-hour drive to any of them at any given time since 1989. Even before that, it was at least an hour commute to the nearest relative. Sure we would have lots of trips to see family, but it was always the four of us relying on each other.

{circa 1988}

{I love this picture of my family}

I didn't have a Blogger blog yet, but my parents moving a few months after my wedding in 2008 was incredibly hard for me. In fact, it really defined me for awhile. I went through some major soul searching and was finally able to really get over it by 2010. Since then, it's been a little easier. It was hard during my pregnancy to be so far from my mom, but it all worked out. Plus, my brother was always nearby. If nothing else, he was in the same state.

{circa 2002}

{This was right before Mikey left for college}

For the first time in my life, I'm going to be completely separated from my 3 main family members. The 3 people I could always depend on no matter what. Sure Mikey went off to college his freshman year, but I still had my parents. Sure my parents moved 13 hours away, but Mikey was still close. Now? My parents will be closer than he will be. Not that we hung out all the time or anything. It was just comforting to know he was there.

{circa 2004}

{My high school graduation party in our house in Oklahoma}

I envy those I know with family down the street. Heck, I envy those who have extended family in the same state! We never had huge family BBQs at our house or anything like that. We just recently started a small family reunion on my dad's side of the family every other year in 2010.

{circa 2008 - Father's Day}

{Yes, we are always this awesome}

{p.s. Mike is definitely burping when we took this}

I know I'll be ok and it will eventually get easier. Skype is definitely a lifesaver for me if I need to physically see my family. And don't get me wrong, I love Phil's family! I love how they're nearby and we all get along great. It's just different because of the strong bond I have with my family. Like I said, it was us against the world. The 4 of us side by side. Even though I'm sad we're so far apart, I'm thankful that we are so close knit in our hearts. I'm also thankful that we were raised to live our lives no matter where life takes us. As my mom said, "As long as there's a major airport nearby, we will always visit when we can."

{circa 2003 - Senior Night football game}

A beautiful song comes to my mind. The lyrics are incredibly fitting for this situation. I love you Mike. Be safe on your travels and know that I am always here :)