...for the last time

I'm meeting my friend Sue for lunch today after the weekly "Pause for Prayer" service at our local "Disciples/Christian" church. I have been attending this service for nearly four years since its inception. I made the comment to Sue that we needed to meet for a late lunch so I could attend this service "for the last time". Her response was that sounded so final...

Well, I guess things are pretty much finalizing. I am doing many things this week that I have done often but will do "for the last time" during the next few days. That is not to say that I won't do some of them again when we arrive here in Anniston for a visit but no longer on a regular basis as a resident.

Today is my last "Pause for Prayer." Rebecca Littlejohn's pastoral prayer during this short half hour of my life has fed my soul each week. Today is my last lunch with Sue -- our friendship was sealed in 2001 when I became a Big Sister in the Big Brother Big Sister program and she interviewed me for the position.

This past weekend Tom and I did the yard for the last time. Mowed, trimmed and blown, we are glad to have that chore behind us. The house does look beautiful after each cleaning but I'm glad we are getting out of here before all these leaves start falling in the yard and pool and driveway....

Judy and I hung-out and played for the last time last Thursday night. Dinner at Outback and a "Frappacino" on the Starbuck's patio. We talked and laughed and loved each other. I will miss our "girlfriend" time.

Brody spent the night in this house with grandad and grama for the last time on Sunday night. The first time he stayed here with us he was less than a month old. He discovered the empty closets -- hiding in them and then yelling "Where's Brody?" Such a delight!

Sunday afternoon Tom drove us on a tour of Anniston for the last time. We drove through the neighborhoods where we both had lived; past houses that had sheltered us over the years. The apartment he lived in when he met Lynn. The houses where he took his newborns home so many years ago. The house where Stan and I first moved our family when we arrived in Anniston fresh from navy retirement 15 years ago.

Today and tomorrow I will probably visit the local "thrift stores" for the last time. Yes, despite packing and preparing to move all of this stuff I still search out the local thrifts just to see what I might find... (we are moving to within five miles of a Goodwill Supercenter!)

This afternoon our home buyers are coming by for a visit. I will show them how to vacuum and care for the pool during this time. This will be the last time for me and the first of many for them. It can actually be a very relaxing chore but I don't think I will really miss it much!

Wednesday night Tom and I will take Craig, Jenn and Brody out to dinner for the last time. We will all sit together as Brody entertains us and I will remember the first time I met this "Wright Family" and how often we have sat together like this.

Wednesday night I will also turn the white mini lights on and sit out on the deck for the last time. I will remember the good times spent out there with family and friends. I will give thanks for this place and my heart will ache just a little...

On Thursday at around noon Tom and I will pull out of the driveway and make our way down Elizabeth Street. At the bottom of the hill we will pass Tenth Street School and First Presbyterian Church . No longer residents of Anniston we will drive on past Mike's Tire and Auto, the post office, Mata's Greek Pizza and Grinders, Dad's BBQ, Martin's Department Store, Smith Cleaners, and Carpenetti's Italian Restaurant. Later that afternoon our new adventure will begin when we cross the Alabama-Tennesee stateline "for the first time" and head on to our new home....