People Make Plans; God Laughs

We’re on the final countdown for the estate sale – this Friday and Saturday – and after that, there’s nothing to do but clean up the floors with a good vacuuming and mopping, and then lock the doors. The closing has been set for July 10^th, so *knock wood* we’ll be done with Brookline, NH for good at that point. In the meantime, Tim has been meeting with the folks who handle the estate sale while they work on pricing out our belongings. I can’t handle going back there while this is going on, for previously stated reasons. I’ve made my peace with my choices on what comes and what goes, so there’s truly nothing to be gained by going back to look over everything.

We said our goodbyes to friends at church this past Sunday. It’s not nearly as difficult this time as it was when we left St. Paul’s in VT back in 1995. I’m not certain, but I do think I know why. We only went to St. Paul’s for a little over 3 years, but it was devastating to leave that little parish. CGS (Church of the Good Shepherd) has been our church home for close to 16 years, and we gave a great deal of our time and talent to the church (both of us serving on Vestry – and a stint as Senior Warden for Tim – various committees, serving as Lay Eucharistic Ministers, as well as helping with facility maintenance), but we don’t feel as though we are abandoning our parish family this time. I suspect much has to do with not only circumstances (leaving St. Paul’s due to having to move out of state for work when none could be found where we had made our home vs. leaving CGS to retire and seek out warmer temperatures in the winter, as well as wanting to finally take the time to travel after many years of being tied to a business that didn’t allow for extended time away), but also the change in technology over the course of 22 years. Keeping in touch with folks from St. Paul’s just never happened since email was still relatively new at the time - remember when you had to pay for AOL, and you only had so much time allotted to you before you had to pay even more? And it was dial up?! Facebook has been a huge boon in keeping in touch with people, both near and far, so we’re never really saying goodbye. Physically, yes, but the emotional connection remains strong, thanks to social media. For that, I am truly grateful.

We have a few more goodbyes to say in the next week, and I’m not looking forward to that. But, we’ll get through it, and move on. And somehow, muddle through.

Now, for those plans I mentioned………..our departure from our current location at Field and Stream in Brookline is July 1^st. We had planned it out for a few reasons, but the biggest one was that Tim Jr. and Katy were given a due date of July 2^nd for the newest member of our family. Since Lucy was a couple days late, we figured we could settle into the campground in Randolph, VT, and have a day or two to coast until the little guy made his appearance. HA! Abraham Upton Favorite decided he wanted to get his party started 2-1/2 weeks early, arriving exactly one week after his mama’s birthday (and six days after his Gigi’s birthday)! We had planned to drive up to Montpelier on June 17^th to drop off the remaining pieces of furniture, etc. that Tim Jr. and Katy were claiming, but since Abe’s early arrival meant we would be arriving when they were coming home from the hospital, we drove up a day early, dropped off the furniture, and then went to the hospital to meet the little sweet potato who couldn’t wait to join his family! Love at first sight! He is so perfect, and his big sister is going to teach him so many fun things! So is cousin Penny. And so is Peep!!! Gigi just wants to hug him and love him for as long as he’ll let me!

For now, we remain in our latest holding pattern, but as we have already seen time and time again, the next stage will be here in short order, and when that happens, we are ready to roll!