For Annabelle

For our first 2 years here at Fort Knox, Annabelle and her friend Katherine were inseperable. They had sleepovers almost every weekend, did their homework together, etc., etc., etc. One thing about the military lifestyle though is that either you will move away, or your friends will move away. And sure enough, this summer Katherine and her family moved away to Pennsylvania.

They moved shortly after we left for our vacation in Florida. Katherine and Annabelle spent the days and nights before our departure together and then had a tearful farewell the night before we left. It was very sad, but we were slammed immediately into the excitement of our Florida vacation, so there wasn't much time to dwell on it.

When we got back from Florida, however, it was a whole 'nother story. There were new people living in Katherine's house, and Annabelle had to start middle school by herself, after being in the same class together for 2 years. So it has been a tough adjustment, and Annabelle misses Katherine a whole lot.

Well, the nice thing about (western) Pennsylvania is that it is only a 7-hour drive away, which is downright next door compared to some of the places in the world where we have friends.

I called Katherine's mom (who is also a very good friend of mine) last week, and we made a plan. The kids don't have school here that Friday before Labor Day, so I am going to take Annabelle and hop into our van and take her up there for a visit. We will come home on Sunday to avoid the crazy traffic of Labor Day, but they will have 2 nights and 1 whole day to spend together.

Once the plan was in place, I decided to save it for her birthday, which is today. I am betting this will be her favorite present.



Happy birthday, Annabelle!