Goodbye, Hello!

I'm rereading the Harry Potter Series right now.  I've rushed through books 1-6 and thoroughly enjoyed each one.  However, I find myself stalling even starting the seventh.  Why?  Because I know how it ends, but maybe by not reading it I can avoid it.  Because I don't want it to be over again. Because saying goodbye to good characters in a book is like saying goodbye to good friends, and I hate saying goodbye. 

Today marks a major turning point in the life of the Wiebes.  Today we finish a chapter that I'm not sure I am ready to finish.  Today we say goodbye to a lot of things that we will never see again in the same way.  But, today also begins a new chapter, a new hello. 

Goodbyes:

5 years, 7 months and 25 days of being married to a student

Too much in student loans to count

Five different houses

Frequent flying

Long drives

Holiday adventures with the Sniebes

Visits with Auntie Chloe

The Mitten

Dear friends from The Mitten - the Paxtons, Governs, Jamisons and so many more

Warm spring, hot summer and beautiful fall Michigan days

Downtown Rochester

The Great Lakes

The sales!

Whole Foods around the corner

Detroit Zoo

A simple life where things never seemed to get too busy

My AP/LLL support group of Mommas

So, so, so much more.

Hellos:

Living with mom and dad again

Grandmas and Grandpas

Aunties and Uncles

COUSINS!

The Farm, the farmers, the horses, the rides

Crazy family dinners

Family birthdays

Making money (hopefully someday soon)

Paying off loans

Winter like no Michigander knows it

Okay, so my list of Goodbyes could have gone on forever, and my list of Hellos seems rather short. But I guess that's because I've never read this book before: I don't know how it ends. But, after all the goodbyes are said and done, I guess I can't wait to see what the next chapter holds and where it takes us. Hello new life!

Well, I've got to go, I've got to finish Harry Potter!