Last week we went back to Washington for a visit. It was supposed to be exciting, like nothing had changed, we would triumphantly return to our old hometown and be heroes! Yeah…not so much.
So much has changed about our little town. The first thing we did was drive by our old house – it’s different now, painted, new windows, new planters on the porch. I knew it would be different and I wasn’t really affected by the changes with the house. What affected me was the rest of the neighborhood. The yards were all brown, there were weeds, the neighborhood looks a little dingy. I asked around and there’s been a drought and the price of water was raised so no one has a green lawn this year. Our sweet little neighborhood is all dried up.
We also wanted to have fun with old friends…except…half of our friends have moved or were on their vacations. The rest of our friends there were divided. By divided I mean – there were several “camps” and people weren’t getting along. Some friends of ours wanted to have a BBQ for us but they don’t get along with some of our good friends – so inviting our friends proved to be an experience in sadness. We are still friends with everyone and got to see everyone. But we missed having everyone together.
Another thing – I got lost. I lived in that town for 8 years and when a friend and I got together for a quick lunch she suggested we go to Taco Bell. I began to drive and realized I had NO IDEA where Taco Bell was. I only ate there about 100 times! She had to tell me where to go. I got lost a couple of times and every time it just made me frown. It’s not my home anymore.
Sadly, my older daughter learned this lesson also. She is 13, a big reason that we decided to go back to Washington this summer is because she was really homesick and had come to my husband and I crying verrrrry big tears and telling us it would make it the greatest summer ever if we could visit so she could see her friends. She lived in Washington from the time she was 3 until she was 12. She went to the same schools all that time, grew up with the same friends and our move to Wyoming was quite a change for her. She has done excellent here, gets good grades, has made some really lovely friends and continues to excell in everything she does. But of course, being 13, she wanted to see her old friends. For a week before we went I reminded her to get in touch with her friends via email or myspace and make plans. No one replied. When we arrived she called and called – no one was available, no one could meet up with her (I was willing to pick up/drop off/pay/whatever it took). One friend invited her to sleep over but later had to cancel. Another friend said she’d come to our BBQ but then later declined. A third friend returned one of her calls and acted as though my daughter’s call was a complete annoyance. She saw none of her friends, it was a hard lesson about growing up. My other daughter did have a fun afternoon with her best friend but aside from that, there was very little visiting going on.
My husband and I spent some time reflecting on the changes and being sad. And as the trip progressed I found myself saying “I wish we were back home in Wyoming.” The change…Wyoming is our home. Washington is not, we are just visitors there now.
Having said all of that, we did have fun with the friends we were able to see, we attended a wedding and it was very special, we went to our old church and saw old friends, we had food at old favorite restaurants, we enjoyed sunsets every night from the deck of the home that we stayed at, I took lots of pictures and got some really good ones…
Change is good. I feel that we got some closure and that life in Wyoming is more and more permanent. We have been here almost a year and we have managed to build a special life here.
