As I was packing boxes tonight, preparing for the moving truck to arrive next Tuesday, I started thinking about how much our lives have changed recently and how amazingly well our kids adjust to change. I guess I adjust to change pretty well, too. I mean...I
have lived like a gypsy for the past decade. Even have two gypsy children now who have been traveling across the state with me in our Suburban since they were each two weeks old. Two weeks...that's when I start gypsy training...wait much longer than that and they're spoiled from being in one house for too long. Next thing you know they'll want to make friends and go to school and sleep under the same roof for more than ten days in a row!
Well, the time has come to cast aside our gypsy ways and make an attempt to settle down in one town, one community, one house. We are moving to the hill country to live on the ranch where we have been working seasonally for years. There will still be lots of traveling for work, but it will be like "normal" people traveling and not professional truck driver traveling like we are accustomed to. To say that I am excited is such an understatement. I am elated.
I have loved our time in Fort Worth and I'll miss being close to my husband's family and to the friends we have made here, but I'm ready. Ready to plant some roots and feel like I am an integral part of a community and not just another black Suburban full of kids passing by. I want to be able to let my kids run free across the land and not have to worry about cars and noise. My plan is for them to go from gypsies to indians! Wild indians!
This move is a blessing for us, but a bitter sweet one. My two stepsons, Billy and Jackson, who have lived in Fort Worth since the day they were born, are making the move with us. They are 15 and 14, respectively, and are not gypsies at all. They have a close group of friends they have grown up and are well known and well liked in their community. They are athletes and leaders who will truly be missed. They will have the most change to endure. They will really miss their mom and their friends and the comfort of their community and extended family. I know from a "grown-up" view point that this move is going to ultimately be what is best for them and our whole family, but I also know that doesn't make it any easier for them right now. I try to imagine what would make it easier for them and what I can do as their stepmom to help them adjust. Any ideas?
My rough draft plan is to cook really good meals and desserts for them and try really hard to embed myself in the community so we can make some friends with kids their age. I will make sure to do everything in my power to support them in all that they do. I'll be the loudest cheerleader in the bleachers (when their mom, Lezlie, isn't there...she's got me beat for loudest cheerleader!), I'll wear their school colors and dress their little brother and sister in them, too. I'll help set boundaries and make rules and then stand back and watch their Dad try to enforce them (hee hee!) Just kidding, babe, kind of! Most of all, I'll pray daily that they will have a smooth transition from one place to the other and that they will make friends easily and learn to love their new place real soon. They are such great kids and they are growing up so fast. I'm so glad I get to be a part of their lives. Please send some prayers their way!
Moving truck comes next Tuesday!
Jackson looking cool at the beach house this Summer. Very "Tom Cruise-ish"!!!
Billy and Emerson
