Saying Goodbye to Friends

Well, today was a really hard day. Dancer Girl had to say goodbye to this little girl who is her first best friend. She and her family are leaving for New York state at 7 am and we stopped by their house as they were packing the truck today for one last goodbye. We ended up staying four and a half hours.

Her mother and I were sent each other's e-mail addresses by the La Leche League. We both wrote desperate e-mails to La Leche when our babies were months old, asking where the closest group was to our city. Well, it turns out that my friend started her own group for nursing moms. She called it Mother to Mother. We e-mailed and met each other for the first time when Dancer Girl was 8 weeks old, and her daughter was about 6 or 7 months old.

So the girls have practically known each other their whole little lives. The Mother to Mother group still meets once a week, though my friend and I don't really go much any more. There is at least one Mother to Mother Group in another nearby city now too.

Our group focused on Nursing Moms Supporting Each Other. My friend called lots of companies and got lots of free samples and coupons. We started making free informational packets to give to local OB offices and the Health Department. My friend got certified as a lactation consultant, and became a resource for the local hospital when new moms needed additional help with nursing their newborns. We organized casseroles for the moms in the group during their first weeks home with their newborns.

My friend and her family has had a great impact on mine. I will miss her a lot. I am sure, however, that my daughter will miss her daughter more. There was lots of crying as I buckled the girls up in the van to finally go. Dancer Girl had to go back for second and third hugs before I could even get her in the van.

Both girls will be starting kindergarten this fall. It has been a long time since that fall day in 2001 when we met. I am happy because they will be moving closer to family and grand-parents, and I can see the benefits of that. I am sad because my daughter has a broken heart because she is losing a best friend and playmate. They will write, of course.

My prayers are for safe travels and for God to look out for them and direct every step in their lives. To my friends...

An Old Irish Blessing
May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

and rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.