Friends and Family

Lately I've been getting emotional when I think of leaving friends and family.   Not so much for my sake but for the kids.  It isn't that I won't miss my loved ones terribly but I have gone weeks or months and sometimes even years without seeing some of my closest friends and sometimes even family members.  I know we are solid and will keep in touch and it will be just like it was before we left.  I have A LOT of history with most of them.

But I get sad when I think about Josie and Benjamin leaving their best friends.  They both have really incredible friendships with several different people that I know will be hard to replicate in Germany.  Josie and Elliott have been best friends and in the same classroom since Kindergarten.

They have such a cool, independent, honest friendship.  They are like sisters in the very best sense of the term.  I know they will keep in touch but it breaks my heart to know they will be separated for a whole year.
Benjamin also has a best friend, Callum.  They met in preschool and became fast friends.  He really doesn't have another friend quite like Callum and he loves to hang out with him.

After preschool they went their separate ways to elementary school but have kept in touch with play dates mostly on vacations or early release days.  Benjamin, will find friends in Germany but I hope we make it a priority to keep in touch with Callum and his other best buddy, Oliver, while we are away.  It will be harder with the boys because of their age and the fact that they are boys and their time together isn't filled with deep conversations or anything.

Marty and I will miss our parents a ton too.  Because of the radio job he plans to come back to Seattle a couple of times throughout the year so he will see his parents then and my parents are hoping to visit us in Berlin.  So hopefully it won't be a full year until we see them again.

Marty and I will miss our good friends too and hope many of them make their way to Berlin to visit us.   So many photos of friends but here are a few of my recent faves.  Marty has friends too but doesn't often take pictures of them 😉