Feeling Sad

Today the sad has won over the happy. I went to a neighbor's house to give her some of Kitty's shoes for her niece. When I hugged her goodbye, I told her how much her friendship has meant to our family and that I probably wouldn't see her again before we left. She said she might come up to our house on Monday, but if she doesn't it's because she's too sad. Just writing this makes tears come to my eyes.

The kids and I did our last lunch out and shopping, saying goodbye to our favorite mall. Kitty helped me put together some candy/snack bags for the airplane tonight with the loot. Raccoon won't be able to have candy again for a long time, or random treats, because of his corn allergy. It's so much harder to feed him safely in the US.

We went to see a piece of land today that my nephew-in-law and his wife (our new downstair tenants) want to buy. It was a gorgeous, green oasis at the bottom of a valley. I felt like digging a hole there and crawling in, except that the bugs were terrible. I walked to the edge of the next lot over, expecting to see a merry stream running through the bushes.

Instead it was a deep chasm, the river so far down I couldn't see it at all. My grief over leaving is like that. It seems shallow at first, but I'm afraid that if I get too close, I might fall in.

(The line of trees past the fence in the second picture, that's where the chasm is.)