It Wasn’t Supposed to be this Difficult
I have a confession to make –
I cried when we moved down here. There, I said it. I cried when we said goodbye to Kevin and Liz after they helped us pack up our moving van. I cried when I drove said van out of Mooresville to begin the trek down here.
Shoot, I even cried when they had a little going away party for me my last night at Pizza Hut. They gave me a card that everyone had signed and our manager brought in some cupcakes.
When we moved back down here, we had in our heads that we’d be moving back up to Indiana after three or four years. That was always the plan. We figured it would be as easy to move away as it was when we left Milligan for the last time. Of course, all of our friends had already moved away and we didn’t have any strong relational connections here anymore. Returning home to Indiana should be easy.
Then I came around the bend in the moving van and saw Buffalo Mountain again. I saw the Pepsi sign that never goes away. I drove through Johnson City and felt like I had returned home.
Then we got involved in Sonlife/Southside/Summit/whatever you want to call it. We became friends with people who weren’t moving away in four years. We began to grow roots. Here. In Johnson City.
It’s going to be hard leaving everyone here. Before we moved down here, I never thought I’d say that. But it’s true. Yes, we’re excited about being closer to family. Yes, I’m excited about the preaching position. But no, it’s not going to be easy to leave the Tri-Cities. Not as easy as we thought.
On the day we moved down here, Christy went to Food City to pick up some groceries. After she picked up her jaw off the floor after seeing the price of a gallon of milk down here, she purchased her groceries and walked outside. The sun was setting and the mountains were a deep purple against the sky. She told me when she got home that she just stood there for a minute in the middle of the parking lot – and realized we were home. It felt good.
Now, every time we leave Food City and see the mountains in the distance, we wonder how many more times we’ll get to see that view.
Aiden is starting to catch on. He’s beginning to talk about how he is going to miss his best friend down here.
Is this what the song means when it says, “Rocky Top, you’ll always be home sweet home to me”?
It wasn’t supposed to be this difficult!
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The picture is of Aiden in the moving van before we returned it after unloading our stuff. One of the earliest memories I have is sitting in the moving van after moving back to Evansville. I think I rode in it when Dad returned it to the rental people. I’m a little fuzzy on that. I was only three years old, after all!
Was the milk cheaper or more expensive? Christy’s jaw dropped, but I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad?
You know, these mountains do kind of get into your blood. I am filled with a slight euphoria after all my travels and I see those mountains looming the in the distance. They’re starting to become “my” mountains.
We (The Stoneberger-Schmidt family) will miss you, especially Alathea!
The milk is twice as much here. Plus, there’s no tax on groceries in Indiana.
Sorry for the poor communication skills I have. 🙂
This place is the black hole, I tell you! The black freakin’ hole!