A Sad Farewell

Aaron and Erin have left Nashville, and they've left us...

Aaron has started grad school at Georgia Tech, and they've moved to Atlanta. I considered putting together a collage of all of the pictures of us together to remember the many fun times we've shared, but I quickly dropped the idea for two reasons: 1. There are way too many. And 2. There's no way I can do that without crying. So, instead, I just put the group shot we took of ourselves the last time they came over for pizza and Guitar Hero.

They technically moved back in the beginning of August, in time for Aaron to start school. They packed up their apartment and said good-bye to everyone. A lot of friends from church through together a going away party for them, before the big move. Lots of yummy goodies were eaten, and a few tears were shed..

However, I handled it surprisingly well. But only because Erin wasn't really moving, yet. She stayed in Nashville, working at FDH until she secured a job down in Atlanta. So, sure she was gone every weekend visiting her husband and puppy, but I still got to see her every day during the week at work. It wasn't that big of an adjustment for me.

That was, until yesterday. "Thankfully," she was able to get a job at a (larger) accounting firm down in Georgia, and this Wednesday was her for-real last day in Nashville. A huge group from work joined her at Logan's Roadhouse for lunch to send her off in high fashion. I actually handled it worse than I thought I would. I mean, I've had months of warning, and I know it's only a few hours away, and we'll have plenty of opportunities to visit them and do fun things in the city, but it just won't be the same. I have no idea what the Fall and Christmas seasons will be like without them... (Like, every single blog post from October through December '08 featured them.)

Luckily, I've been able to spend some quality time with Erin lately, since she was staying with an aunt in town, and Brad's been working most evenings. That made the final days better, but it still didn't stop me from sobbing when I hugged her neck for the last time before leaving work.

We're definitely going to miss having them around. But, I'm sure they'll still pop up in future blog posts, here and there, when we visit the Coke Museum and IKEA in Atlanta during our visits.