"Happy trails to you...Leah and Andy, Jackson, Trevor and Sylvia"
Today our oldest daughter, Leah, and her family departed Grand Rapids for their new season of life in Haslet, TX. Andy's division of the company is shutting down its Grand Rapids' operations and moving south.
We hosted them for their final days here and it was quite an active house again for the time. Today was eeriely quiet. Of course, Julie and I missed hugging and kissing little Sylvia. And I missed horsing around with Jackson and Trevor--two of the most energetic, 100% boys I know...and love. Leah is a great conversationalist and Andy is my MSU Spartans' buddy.
Andy spent the last days in Michigan cleaning, painting, tearing out old carpet so new carpet could be laid, and generally getting their house here ready to sell.
They left this morning from Gerald R. Ford airport at 7:15 a.m. The picture was taken just after they checked their bags in.
We will miss them, as we miss our daughter Elisha and her family and our daughter Lori---they all live in California. Shamar, our youngest daughter, moved out on her own in mid-August, but she still lives in the Grand Rapids area.
Leah was born my last year in Seminary in Dallas. In some ways, she is going back to her roots. Julie has relatives in the Dallas-Ft Worth metroplex. Julie also was born in Dallas.
So, Julie and I have reason to visit San Diego, Sacramento, and Haslet. If Shamar should ever leave Michigan, hopefully she'll move to the Bahamas or the island of St. Martin. Hey, it's fun to dream.
We have great girls; tremendous young ladies. We are very proud of each of them. But, dang!, that getting married and leaving father and mother bit is hard to adjust to. Yet, Julie and I did it, carting off our little girls from Julie's folks and my folks when we were young...er. It's that "circle of life" thing, I guess.
Remember that scene in "Father of the Bride" where Annie Banks is sitting at the dinner table excitedly telling her father and mother about the wedding and suddenly George Banks sees Annie as his 5 or 6 year old little girl? That's comedy on the one hand, yet very real in the minds of parents on the other. Younger minds have imaginative pictures about the future; older minds have actual memory-pictures of the past, accessible in a nano-second. Our children can be 31 and 3 almost instantaneously; two and twenty-seven in a breath; four and then living on their own in the wink of an eye.
May the LORD bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you and give you peace.
Love,
Dad
posted by John Frye @ 10:25 PM
10 comments
10 Comments:
Oh my goodness...that scene from Father of the Bride always makes me cry, even though it's supposed to be funny. The speed at which children grow; it's astounding, and beautiful, and lamentable, and glorious -- all at once!
blessings to all of you!
I love you, Dad.
I was talking to Leah earlier today about how we are making our new homes in different places. But when we visit Grand Rapids and we walk through that door into the Frye kitchen...that is HOME.
I miss you.
Susan,
I'm glad you as a parent can relate. I think that at our age "foreverness" moves from a concept to a real hope. Thanks for the blessings!
Elisha,
I love you, too, and your family. You and Bryan, Ben, Zachy and Lillian are dear to us...and, yes, we do miss you. Yet, all is how it is supposed to be for now. The "Frye kitchen" is always open. You and your sisters have something Julie and I don't---childhood memories of primarily one place called "home." We lived everywhere it seems and nowhere.
Yes, John. Good, but bittersweet to be sure!
Nice photo, and blessings on them all.
Well, what a tear-jerker this post is! Golly. I can relate on some level with both of our adult children married and out on their own. Our son and daughter-in-law are 8 hours away. That is a tough one for me. Fortunately, our daughter and son-in-law are nearby. And we don't even have grandchildren yet. Yikes.
Kris,
"Nobody knows the trouble I seen, nobody knooooows, but Jeeeesus..."
Yes, this post was a tuffy. Yet, the LORD leads us on. Psalm 121 is a comfort as we see the kids go their various ways.
I attended the wedding of a friend the other day. My three year old daughter accompanied my wife and me. Sitting there, all of the sudden my mind imagination took me forward to the day when my little one was walking down the aisle. My heart jumped into my throat. I leaned over and whispered to my daughter, "Will you stay a little girl forever?" She giggled, and said, "NO! Silly daddy . . . "
Oh, well. I guess it was worth asking.
Andy,
I kept saying that to our youngest and she gave me the same answer. Now she's 23!
Hi Sir/Ma'm, I was looking up information about Haslet, and I stumbled on to your post. My family and I are being relocated to Haslet, TX. I was just wondering is it nice there? I moved from Bakersfield, CA to West Monroe, LA (we been here for 2 yrs) now we are moving to Haslet, TX and I just wanted to see if it was nice, if your daughter has said anything about it? People/kid friendly? How are the schools? You know mom stuff. Any information would be helpful. Thank you so much!
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