See this oh-so-grown-up ten year old lovely little lady on the left? Well, Dave and I moved into her old neighborhood located in the deep desolate heart of Eastern New Mexico on the day that she was born. It was one of our first moves as a young married couple. We were a little shell shocked for many reasons. Tiny little dessert town, one of our first assignments in the military life as a married couple, I had left my first “real” career job for our move, and we were far away from any resemblance of family and friends. And while Eastern New Mexico will never be near and dear to my heart, this little girl and her dear sweet family are.

Because, although it reminds me just how fast time is flying and just how much older Dave and I have become… it also reminds me of the wonderful power of good people and good friends, especially in those places you need them the most. We really became such great friends with her parents that they are still treasures to us today. We had BBQs and block parties, camp outs on front lawns, and lots of late nights hanging at each other’s houses watching football, cooking, eating, celebrating holidays, and just being each other’s family in a place where it was easy to feel lost. We went on ski trips and vacations, played huge practical jokes on each other (which should be the subject of another much longer post), and generally had a blast. I’ll never forget our long walks around the neighborhood, or watching the night sky for shooting stars and satellites.

We really enjoyed catching up with them recently in a trip to SanAntonio, where they are now stationed. Their family and ours has grown considerably since we were all together (yep, that would make SEVEN children between our families), and we didn’t get much time to catch up in between chasing offspring… but that’s OK. We just picked up right where we left off, like all great friends do. It was wonderful to see them, even if just for a day.