Picking Up Where They Left Off

~Jack & Zach ~

When we found out that we had to move in the spring there were many things that I was sad to leave, but there was one major thing that I knew that we would miss... a lot!  Our neighbors.  We had the best neighbors!  Our kids - mostly boys that were mostly Jack's age - were very close.  We shared many of the same values, and we had come to trust each other and depend on each other.  Our kids played well together and were very cute, stereotypical, little all-american boys.  We shared holidays and birthdays and a sandbox and a cul-de-sac and bikes and Legos and lightsabers and  big, big imaginations.  Some of the boys were in the neighborhood when we arrived (when Jack was 2 years old) and some came later.  One friend in particular moved into the house across the street when Jack was 3.  His name was Zachary, and he was 3 too.  They were instant bosom buddies and would play for hours together if they got a chance.  They went through many phases together and many of them included costumes.  I have pictures from that time that mean everything to me... little boys just don't stay little very long.  

This summer we have really felt the loss of our friends on Park View.  Even more than when we initially moved.  In the summertime in our old neighborhood, Jack would wake up asking to go play with friends.  They played all day long.  At our new house that has not been the case, and my social, friend-having, fun-loving boy has missed it.

So today we invited "Z" - as we call him - over to play.  The boys have not seen each other in a while, and I was amazed at how they were instantly best buds all over again.  I have been teary eyed since the moment that Zach's daddy dropped him off at the thought of the way that things were, the way that they are now, how desperately I miss our home, how I long for my little boy to have the friendship that he thrives on so much, and how I love that, as of today anyway, he is still a little boy.