Our First Farewell Party

Our neighbors hosted a farewell party for us last night. This was the first time that so many of us have gotten together, and as we were leaving I wished we had. We’ve all been too busy with our everyday family lives in the years that rushed by to have large parties, but we’ve shared our happenings with each other over fences and front yards and watched out for each other. We’re going to miss them all terribly. Our saving grace is that we’ll still be able to see them when we return to visit our daughter, Tiffany and her family. Never was I more relieved than last night to know that Tif and her husband would be buying our house whenever they’re able to sell their condo in this down market. As we were leaving, our very special neighbors across the street, who we’ve known since their kids were born and gone off to college gave us a beautiful blue and white boxed present. It reminded me of Tiffany’s wedding cake. (I don’t know how many of their wedding guests got the little joke that their cake was in the form of a Tiffany jewelers cake box.)

When we opened the box, we found that it was indeed a sparkling crystal bowl from Tiffanys. We were surprised and incredibly touched by this amazing gift. This will be a gift that will sit in our living room for all to see in Hawaii and stand forever as a loving reminder of the beautiful friends we will always have back home in Illinois.