rhonda mccoy

Tonight as I sit here thinking of the past few years, I am reminded of a favorite quote.  “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” Dr. Seuss

In just a few weeks, we will load up the last box, glance around the house a last time, pull out of our driveway with Veggie Tales playing instead of Jazz, and head off into our future.

As I listen to the rain softly falling, it just reminded me of our early days here. The first weekend we came to visit, it rained. (I LOVE rain!) A few weeks later, driving around looking for apartments…it rained. The first day we looked at our house together, it was raining. I remember thinking God was giving me rain on special days just because He knew how much I liked it.

I remember pulling into town after driving from Arizona with just a U-Haul trailer behind us. It was a chilly January night, and we backed down into a steep (for this northern girl) driveway, and were warmly welcomed into the house of two people we had barely known. I remember being introduced to cornbread without sugar, Full Moon BBQ, O’Carr’s, “meat and three’s”, and Milo’s…the sweetest tea ever!

I remember having casual Sunday afternoon dinners with friends that would last for hours. I remember sitting in Friday night traffic headed out on 280 to have fajitas at Superior Grill.

 I remember at my job interview, the whole staff met me in the conference room and all went around and introduced themselves. Then I had to tell a bit about myself, but was not prepared for their next question:  ”So, are you for Alabama or Auburn”?  I ended up saying that I would be for whoever bought me a sweatshirt first.  Roll Tide!!

I remember hearing about how beautiful the Alabama and Florida panhandle beaches were. Nothing could have prepared me for Rosemary Beach. I have no desire for Cancun, Hawaii, or anywhere else….Rosemary Beach is the “happy place” I go to in my mind, even though I almost ruined a half gallon of perfectly smooth frozen vanilla yogurt one night! (Long story!)

I remember the hearing “Sweet Home Alabama” sung at women’s conference, and watched in amazement as the group of 10,000 women almost had revival right there in the BJCC!  The band had laughed and said afterwards that if they knew this is what it would have taken to get all the women to their feet, they would have sang it earlier in the worship service!

I remember being delighted at the new people that started to come to church. Our church family was growing. I remember crying with a mom who had to lay her little newborn baby girl to rest. I remember Everett delivering one of the best eulogy’s I have ever heard at her memorial service.

I remember making the decision to quit work so that we could pursue our lifelong dream of becoming foster and/or adoptive parents. I remember my heart pounding when I received the first call that a baby needed a  temporary home. I remember taking her back to her mom after a week, and walking out with my arms empty, but my heart so full.

I remember the hugs from new friends. I remember using text messaging for the first time. I remember running my first 5K. I remember watching my dear friend say goodbye to her beloved. I remember sobbing into my pillow  and talking to God that night.

I remember sitting in Panera at Patton Creek and getting a call about a 5 month old baby named Dakota. I remember falling in love with her from the moment she looked at me with those beautiful brown eyes. I remember 6 weeks later, getting another call about a newborn baby girl…just 3 days old…I remember telling the social worker yes, and precious Addison won our hearts! And then another 7 months down the road, I remember sweet Charlie being placed in my arms at 2 weeks old. I remember thinking….wow….it may be months before I sleep through the night again!!!!!!

I remember God sending people into my life that would drop their plans and schedule to step in and help out with the other babies when Addison was hospitalized for RSV. I remember making it through RSV and getting released to go home, only to have her fall out of the hospital crib, right onto her head! Thankfully, she was just fine, although I needed to be sedated at that point.

I remember missing my family so much I would cry myself to sleep. I would long for just a trip to Wal-mart with my Mom. I remember how glad I was to discover Facebook and be able to send pictures, and communicate at a new level with family and friends. I remember loading up all 3 babies and driving…yes driving, all the way to Arizona to spend our first Christmas in five years with family.

I remember a couple of months later, at a follow-up appointment while feeding Charlie apple juice and cheez-its, I heard the initials ‘LCH” for the first time. I remember texting my husband and numbly pushing her stroller to the next clinic down the hall to meet with the head of oncology. I remember words like chemo, biopsy, bone marrow aspirate, rare, port, relapse. I remember crying while walking out of the hospital. I remember holding her really tight before I put her back in her carseat for the drive home.

I remember our church family who came together for us in prayer. I remember meeting some of the kindest, most generous hearts that were also connected with childhood cancer and disease. I remember rejoicing although she was hospitalized again, that after 6 weeks, her new scans looked much better!

I remember a few weeks ago knowing in my heart that it was time to close a chapter of our lives here. I remember the feeling that was so bittersweet. There are some sweet souls who have sustained me. I will miss your gentle nature, your giving hearts, your selflessness, our coffee time, Mocha Frappes, prayer time, breakfasts, Bo-berry biscuits, Edgar’s cupcakes, and lunches. My girls will miss your hugs. I will miss your friendship. I will miss worshipping with you each week.

As I sit here and the house is so quiet…just the falling rain and some classical music, I can’t help but think that God gave me this night too that will be one of those times that “I remember…”. I have so much to be thankful for, so much to keep as a remembrance in my heart. I have so much to tell my girls as they grow up about this beautiful place of hills, tall pine trees, rivers, red dirt, and crape myrtles. This place we now call home. This place where we became a family of five.  This place that has some of the kindest people I know. This place that I will always remember…..and will “smile because it happened”.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 20th, 2011 at 4:14 am and is filed under Relationships. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.