We slept on the boat two nights before we left (no furniture in the house!) and had the cats with us. Kitty Karen somehow foresaw our move and she planted herself on the boat even before we moved to it. Callie, however, had to be put on the boat to sleep with us and she did sleep like a baby each night in the boat. When we woke up one morning we saw this magnificent cobweb near the boat:
Our farewells were sad, but cherished. Pat and I mustered our grit, er determination, as we just didn't want to shed tears anymore. We look at this change as a grand adventure and realize that God has placed this change upon our hearts for good reason. We will eventually learn why it has become so important for us to move away. In His own good time, we will realize His intent, we are sure, and we will continue to do good works always.
We thank Joe Nesbitt and Karen Curtis for inviting us to live next to them on this farm. We have been truly blessed to have built and lived at Fairwinds. It is one of the most beautiful places on earth to us.
We thank Joe and his wife Jean for their kindnesses and friendship. Joe and Pat are close, very close, and love each other very much.
We thank Dianne Simpson for pushing us so much to get the packing done - when we were pooped, she prodded us on. She was and is an amazing woman. She is my best friend and I miss her dearly every day. As she says, when you know you can see each other any day, you don't always need to; but when you know you can't, it is so sad. The distance separating all of us is about 10 hours or 600 miles. A side note: Dianne gave us the Avatar DVD before we moved. So thrilled! Finally got to see it...think we are the last persons on earth to see it! Now I really want it to come out again in 3D at the movies.
I didn't get to say goodbye to Chuck Carland, but saw him before the actual moving day. Chuck is forever on the phone but never fails to throw up his hand in a friendly and warm greeting. A good man. By the way, the picture to the left is our dog Skipper and Chuck's dog Sugar on one of their final rounds of the property!
Ruth Woodard has not been up to speed since we left. She has had surgery and is slowly getting better. I so wish I was there to spend some time with her, but I do call her regularly to check in!
Uncle Tom Evans can hardly wait till we get to Virginia to further work on his move to Florida. He will be living with us and we are all looking forward to that day.
Leia, Steve and Nathan Cator and Kayla Barlett are still living in Enka but we will see them from time to time and the internet makes being close, even when far away, more possible than I could have ever imagined. We miss them.
We miss Kolby who is at ASU, and his mom Alicia. Kolby is attaining his certification in scuba diving at AppState through the PADI Open Water Diver course and will be taking the final test in a cold, cold quarry. Here we are in Florida with warm water. What is wrong with this picture? I'm sure he will ace the course despite the cold. Alicia will be coming down to Florida in the last couple of weeks in October - in time for Halloween.
We love our NC friends and family. We miss you dearly.
I will be moving the blog on to our Florida "Following Seas" part of the saga. We have been here about a month now and are getting our footing and finding our way around better. Each day is filled with new happenings and thanks to Joe, Melanie and Ashley, and Caren and Roger we are homeless temporarily but well loved as we go from one place to another. Thanks everyone in NC for all your caring; and thanks everyone in FL for your love.
See you on the blog again soon. Love you all, Donna and Patrick
PS: A special thanks to Candy Whitt, our realtor for her fine work with us. And well wishes to Caleb in his new home, our forever cherished "Fairwinds."
