Ode to the Shaws

*** First of all, I have tried my darndest to find a new, easy music player for my blog since the old one changed, but to no avail. After WAY too much time trying, just do me a favor and click play to your right before you start reading. :)****

Moving Day.

How do you say goodbye to someone that means so much to you? I wouldn't even allow myself to think about this moment until it was happening. I've never had a friend like Rachel. I've had best friends. High school friends. College roommate friends. Cousin friends. But this was different.

We laugh when we talk about the first time we met. I had just flown in the night before and the house was a disaster, but since Trav's dad would be leaving soon, we were planning on doing Palmyra that morning. So I had actually just woken up and gotten ready when Doug and Rachel stopped by on their morning run. I remember standing at the top of the stairs and being embarrassed that our house was a mess for our first visitors. She remembers being embarrassed that she was in her running clothes when I was all dressed up. (And we both remember our exact outfits. How's that for telling on our personalities? :) I was excited to meet them, but had no idea what was in store for us.

I think it was shortly after that they invited us over for Sunday dinner. This was all sans children of course, so we talked and asked questions about each other's families and background in peace. :) We were in the "getting to know you" stage.

One of my favorite early memories with them was going to the county fair that summer. We met other dental school friends there and played like only couples without children can. Well, the Cardon's did have their baby... hence the carrier, but we were baby free! I remember trying deep fried Oreos and eating an enormous amount of kettle corn. And Travis and Doug dancing with some slightly inebriated older ladies at the Imitation Beatles concert. Hysterical. Then, on the way home in the dark (we drove together, because, well back then, we could!) I busted out one of my favorite Mariah Carey songs, Alway Be My Baby. We rolled down the windows, cranked up the music and drove away singing at the top of our lungs. Carefree and loving it. If you can be that ridiculous with people you met a month ago, you know it's the beginning of a beautiful relationship. :)

I had found out I was pregnant the morning I flew out to Buffalo, but we weren't telling yet, of course. A couple of months later, we were driving together to go see The Black Knight when Rachel flat out asked if I was pregnant. I stammered out a lie. I'm a terrible liar. 

5 min. later, walking across the parking lot, I spilled the beans with pleas of keeping it silent. I found out then that I could trust them with a secret. Rachel would easily become my #2 confidant. (Of course Trav is #1 :)

I knew Rachel had had a miscarriage early in their marriage and now they were having trouble getting pregnant. She was having a rough day, just finding out that month again, that she wasn't pregnant. I brought over a blizzard and tried to console her. It's amazing to look back on the sadness of that day, the seeming hopelessness that accompanies heartache and know that she now has 2 handsome boys she's leaving Buffalo with. That of course, was the first of many tearful conversations that we comforted each other through.

Then there were the trips! Oh, the trips. :) We ventured to Boston and Washington D.C. with one child a piece and Philadelphia with two a piece. We traipsed up to Canada for Crystal beach and over to Senecca Lake for the lake house. We went camping, we went to Wing Festival and Becker Farms, we went berry picking. And those are just a few. I don't think our Pathfinder would have felt right not caravaning with the Edge. :) They were the perfect traveling companions and it was so fun to discover new cities, making memories with friends.

As much as Doug and Trav carpooled, I think Rach and I did more. Even though we always asked each other first, it was kind of a given that we pick each other up for Bunco, book club, baby showers, enrichment activities, and girls nights. And before the days of two car seats a piece, we'd pick each other up to go to the park, mall, playgroups and wading pools. And if we had just spent 4 hours visiting that evening, we'd usually tack another one on in the driveway before calling it a night. A few times we would have just left each other when Trav would find me on the phone and ask who it was. I'd tell him, Rachel, and he'd jokingly roll his eyes and exclaim, "Didn't you just spend 3 hours together?!" For some reason, there was never a lack of things to talk about. It got to where my phone would ring and without looking up or missing a beat, Collin would matter of factly say, "Mom, Rachel's calling." He was almost always right.

We celebrated birthdays. We partied on Halloween. We got on our ugliest sweaters for Christmas. We dipped eggs on Easter and played Newlywed games on Valentines.

We ate out together countless times. 
I think I could navigate my stroller down the street to their house with my eyes closed. 
We could sense when the other wasn't doing OK. 
We held each other's babies in the hospital when our Mom's weren't there yet. 
We vented. 
We cried. 
We laughed. 
We listened. 
We related. 
We became related. 
I truly consider Rachel my sister. That's the type of person who is always there for you. Who knows you better than you know yourself. Who listens, offers advice, surprises you, loves your kids like they're her own, and will always love you. No matter what. 

It wouldn't be a stretch to say that this was one of the hardest goodbyes of my life. 

I saw this on Pinterest months ago and immediately thought of Rach. 

I can totally see us in Florida in our 70's, with shriveled up skin and saggy boobs, cat calling to the young guys passing on the boardwalk then dancing our way down to the beach, sipping our pina coladas. We will totally be {those ladies}. 

Trav and Doug had to fake cry to hide their true emotions. We know they were crying on the inside. :)

Best buds. 

They don't know it, but somehow we're getting connections to the First Presidency so they can be mission companions. :)

We both left on the same day, which was very fitting, but they were a little more organized and headed out around 9 that morning. We cried and hugged and cried some more as they swept out the kitchen for the last time and threw the last few things into the back of the truck. Collin and Gavin greeted each other enthusiastically and ran around like nothing was about to change. It was sweet and heartbreaking at the same time. 

It was not easy driving away from 64 Huxley. It was our second home. I think that color of mint green will always bring me a measure of comfort. :)

I could never count how many times we traversed that length of street between our houses. It was heart wrenching driving down it for the last time. 

If I didn't have a house to clean and a million things to do, I would've sobbed on my bed the rest of the day. As it was, we drove away with a crying headache already coming on.

Rach found a fitting quote to send me a couple weeks later,

"Friendship isn't about being inseparable, it being separated and nothing will change."

Now I know just about everything physical will change, but it's true, our friendship will always be there. We're already planning trips to see each other for later this year and in years to come. We have every intention of not letting our children forget each other. And if they do, we will still have reunions and force them to talk and hang out, just like our parents did to us at extended family reunions. That's just what parents do best.

Good luck Doug, Rachel, Gavin, and Liam. Florida doesn't know how lucky it is!

Words don't describe how much we love you.

A little walk down memory lane......

Rachel, holding Collin for the first time.

Me, holding Gavin for the first time.