Saying Goodbye

This morning we woke up early with dread and sadness in our hearts. The day had finally come when we would have to say goodbye to our good friends, Rob and Janet, and their boys. Eric and I have fought the tears this past week, trying to imagine daily life without them. Perhaps, though, the hardest part for us has been wondering how Jack will take the loss of Simeon, his little buddy, someone who has been a part of his everyday life for the past fifteen months. We’ve tried explaining it to him, but we’re pretty sure he doesn’t really understand it. How could he?

For those of you who don’t know who the Mezgers are, they are the family that has lived in the downstairs apartment of this house with us this past year. Their son, Simeon, is a day older than Jack, and they formed a bond early on that has turned into a sweet companionship and love for one another. Then on January 1st of this year, their son Nathanael rounded out our home, a whole six weeks after Ellie was born.

Together we have trudged through parenting quandaries, pregnancies, personal losses and hardships, and highs and lows of our faith journeys. We have shared babysitting responsibilities, a laundry room, yard toys, random food items, a Blockbuster membership, and a love of Lost, 24, AI, and Grey’s Anatomy (what will I do without anyone to analyze the remaining episodes of Lost?? I’ll have to call your mom, Rob! She’s got the best theories…). Our boys have shared baths, wagon rides, Elmo episodes, too many toys to count, sippy cups, GERMS, food off each other’s plates, kisses and hugs, giggles, and shrieks of joy whenever they saw each other. Living in such close proximity has taught us so much about community, fellowship, bearing one another’s burdens and sharing in our joys. We’re just starting to understand what an enormous blessing it has been to have them for neighbors.

So, we trudged downstairs early this morning as they were finishing last-minute packing and preparing to spend our last time together. We held Nathan, tickled Simeon, laughed with Rob and Janet. Jack and Sim enjoyed jumping on the mattress on the floor, laughing gleefully, completely unaware that this was their last time to play together. When it was time to leave, they gave each other a sweet hug, and then a kiss on the cheek. Just broke my heart.

We held it together pretty well until we came upstairs and sat in the window watching them get in the car. Eric began trying to explain to Jack that Simeon was going bye-bye and we wouldn’t see him for a long time. Jack had this confused expression on his face and just sat there staring out the window. It was so sad, and with tears streaming down our cheeks we waved goodbye one last time to our friends—no, to our family—from our window perch.

It’s been a hard day. Every now and then I do something that reminds me of one of the Mezgers…at one point I thought I heard the washing machine and assumed Janet was doing laundry. And then…no. Later I heard a baby crying and stopped to think, “Is that Nathan or Ellie?” And then…oh. Tonight I went to get out a pot for dinner, and I was suddenly reminded of how much Simeon loved getting into my pots and pans and dragging them into the living room. I will miss that.

I told Eric tonight that my mind knows they are gone and that we won’t see them tomorrow, or the day after, or many days after that. But in a weird way their spirit is still here…going downstairs and seeing their empty home still doesn’t make it sink in. The memories are too fresh, too precious, and it hurts just too much to think about what tomorrow will feel like, how quiet this house will be.

We are hurting tonight. We will miss our friends more than we could have imagined. But we trust that God is sovereign and that He goes with each of our families as this season is changing. We are so grateful for the past year, and for the blessing they have been in our lives, and in Jack’s life. Blessings, sweet friends! We know we will see you again someday, whether in this life or the glorious next. C-ya!