Words with Friends

One of my greatest fears about moving to the sticks was the potential isolation. Would friends visit us? Would we make new friends in this rural community? Or would we feel entirely isolated and lonely?

Sherri (and Travis) were among our first visitors.

But I pushed those worries aside as we waved goodbye to our home in the nice cul-de-sac a mile from grocery stores, schools and other suburban amenities. After all, while we had friends right there in our neighborhood and neighbors just 10 feet from either side of our house, we didn't really have that many visitors. With kids (ours and theirs) running hither and yon to dance or sports or school and more, there wasn't a lot of time for get-togethers. Our neighbors were friendly enough in a wave-as-you-pass manner, but in suburbia, folks drive into their garages, close the door and lock themselves inside. There are no front porch evenings. There's no time to walk past neighbors' homes to run down to the library or grocery store.

If I had the same wave-as-you-pass relationship with neighbors in the new place, at least we'd have some space between us; I wouldn't confuse the ring of their phone with mine, the beep of their matching microwave with mine.

Our friends and family have shown wonderful support for our move. We've already had more visitors in a month than we had in a year at the old place and I'm so very thankful to all of them for making use of our guest bedroom, stopping in for tea, bringing the kids to run wild with my kids, helping us make the special places on the place even more so by building memories with them.

We didn't move here to isolate ourselves. We moved to have a place we could share and enjoy with friends and family. Help us live the dream.