Make New Friends, But Keep the Old

“...One is silver, and the other is gold.”

Thank you, Girl Scouts, for emblazoning this little ditty on my seven-year-old mind back in the 1980s. AND for making the most delectable, chocolaty mint cookies in the whole, entire friggin universe.

As a young girl, I wasn’t able to fully understand the lesson behind this brief rhyme, but as an adult I appreciate it with all my might. In fact, I’ve taken it as my mantra in life right now as our little family braces for quite a big, new adventure.

We are moving from Adventure Drive in Ohio (ironic, eh?) to Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, an older neighborhood just south of Pittsburgh. It’s only three and a half hours east of where we live now, but given what we have gone through over the past month to prepare for the move, you would think we are embarking on a life-changing trip to the moon.

But then again, this is life changing for us. Three weeks ago, Brian accepted a new position with Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. We then sold our home in just 24 hours, spent three days looking through 20 homes near the ‘burgh, finally went into contract on a home, started the loan process, held a home inspection on both properties, hired movers and by-the-skin-of-our-teeth landed (I think) a daycare option for the boys once we get there so I can work remotely for my current job.

Can I just say, #mentalhealthbreakdown?

The only things keeping me going through this insane time is my faith in God and my enormously supportive group of family and friends. From our sweet Columbus friends hosting a happy hour to send us off, to our parents watching the boys so we can travel and pack, to friends introducing us to their Pennsylvania contacts, to co-workers doing everything in their power to make the transition smooth, to our babysitter offering to take Mac to Chuck E.Cheese's next week (God bless you)... encouragement and assistance and love and goodwill has greeted us at every crazy turn.

It is going to be so hard to leave our network here in Central Ohio. We’ve lived here for 13 years and have found everything that made us completely comfortable: a beautiful home in a great community, good jobs, fantastic friends, wonderful child care, two Targets within five miles. I mentioned on Facebook the other day that it is going to be unbearable to leave my OBGYN — the woman who bravely dealt with me in delivering my two little peanuts. (Please note, they were not the size of peanuts when they emerged from my body.)

A good friend (and the yogi of this blog) recently asked me the date of our move. I told her it was scheduled for March 21st, and until that very moment, I hadn’t recognized the significance of that day.

She wrote, “Spring equinox is all about unearthing our roots and hauling ourselves up from the dirt. It is the quintessential time to dust ourselves off and make room for change. That’s you this year...you get to live it!”

Oh that girl, she has a way of making me feel good about all of this. And I do feel good about it — but also, I’m scared. Scared of leaving everyone and everything that feels so good and so right. Like every change in life, big or small, it’s just the unknown that worries us and leaves us with a feeling of discomfort. But when it is time to face the change head on, we somehow muster the courage to embrace it, settle into it and gain our bearings in a new space, a new light, a new place.

Everything will be just fine. We will soon move and get comfortable in a new home, in a new community, with new jobs and a Target just three and a half miles away (nine minutes in current traffic). And we will find new friends who will be added to our current support team that we won’t dare let slip away. (Oh no, dear friends, don’t think for a second you are going to hide from me!) The old tried and true friends are the golden friends, the ones that will be there no matter the distance, no matter the issue. They are the friends that will toast our new beginning and remain just a phone call away.

And those friends will be there for us, year after year. Just like the Girl Scouts with their amazing cookies.

Thank you, friends. You have been unbelievable through all of this, and you are worth more to me than you will ever know. Undoubtedly, more than silver or gold.

-Melissa