Home Sweet Home

When I was in high school, I dreamed of moving away from Florence. I told anyone who would listen that I was moving away after graduation and I would never move back. "Never say never", right? After two years of marriage, Ed and I welcomed Andrew into our life. We were living in Macon, GA and had made wonderful friends there. Still, every time we came to Florence to visit family, it felt like we were coming "home" and every time we had to leave, it felt like we were leaving the place where we were supposed to be. Having a child and living 4 1/2 hours from our families was not easy. We began discussing moving home as a "what if" situation on the drives back to Macon. Eventually it turned into a "WHEN we move home" discussion. Finally, just before Andrew's first birthday we decided that Ed would start job hunting. God knew our path and led Ed to his job at Willcox, so we packed up our belongings and headed "home." I still say that moving back to Florence was one of the best decisions of my life. I always wanted my children to have a close relationship with their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Let me tell you, my boys could not love their family more! The excitement I see on their faces when they find out we are going to see "Nani and PaPa" or "Big Daddy" is priceless. Andrew calls their cousin Zadie his "pretend sister" and idolizes all of his older cousins. Andrew and Henry both love my sister-in-law's pregnant belly and Andrew is very excited to meet his baby cousin Lucas. They adore all of their aunts and uncles...Jimmy and "Margie" (pronounced with a hard G, as named by Andrew), Josh and Kimberly and Mike and Mary.
I am reminded how lucky and how blessed I am when I need a babysitter and I have several free options! My amazing (and very patient) parents have agreed to keep all THREE of our boys for the next TWO weekends in a row for out-of-town weddings that we are attending. How many parents have that option?
I am sure there are many more glamorous places in the world to live. I know there are a lot of folks that live in Florence that are dying to move away. When it comes right down to it, Florence is "home" to me and I am pretty sure it always will be.