Saying goodbye sucks...

So I should know how it goes by now...you make friends at each assignment and at some point either you or they move onto another place. Most of the time for us it has been our friends moving away. Actually all of the time. When we were in Enid we were the very close to the Johnsons...they moved before we did as did Joe and Allison who we were lucky enough to have known from college. Then onto Abilene...the Farleys, Welches both left before us and the hardest, the Ferraris. Now here. After the first year in TPS a few close friends moved away and it was hard...but now two more years have passed and a family we have become so close to is leaving. They are only going to Vegas, so it isn't ions away, but it mine as well be when you get used to people living in walking distance.
I can remember the first day we drove onto the base and drove up to see our potential new house on Lindbergh. At the top of the hill a pretty blonde was watering her plants...I turned to Brandon and said, "I want to be friends with her". And, so it became. When we first met Tiffany had just found out she was pregnant and not feeling great. She became close to some people in the class that I was also close to and after they both moved, we started to spend more time together. Her daughter Tayla was about 20 months younger than Zach, but as time went on Baby Tayla became his friend. We would go on walks, take them to the park, have dinner together, even a few off base adventures. And over the two years they became the best of friends. As for Tiffany...well she has been a bright spot in not so bright three years. She was the first person here I told about my pregnancy with Erin...a very unexpected pregnancy that came right in the middle of us having some real issues with Zachary. She was someone I leaned on greatly through rough times with Zach. She gave me ideas of things to work on with him using her speech therapy knowledge and she was always so kind and patient with him. She helped watch Erin for me several times when Zach was getting evaluations done and Erin has fallen in love with her. Most of all Tiffany has just been a great friend. She is one of the nicest people I know and is just sweet. She has endless talents and abilities and is a great mom. I am so glad that I had the chance to know her and become friends and I hope that we are able to get together even after their move.
We had dinner tonight and I wasn't able to say goodbye...hoping for one more playdate this week. It is just too hard. I have really enjoyed my 8 years as an AF wife...but the goodbyes never get easier. With Brandon's deployment looming in the horizon her departure comes at a very hard time for me. I am so excited for her to start a new life, have a new house (with AC), and welcome their new baby boy into the world...but she will be deeply missed and so will Scott and Tayla. So...here are a few pictures of the kids over the years...sadly I just realized I have maybe one photo of her and I together...we must change that before she moves.