Until We Meet Again

Probably one of the best things about this nomadic military life is meeting up with old friends again after having moved away. Today we had the opportunity to catch up with friends we hadn't seen in four years!
We were neighbors in Washington state for a couple of years. Our kids played together daily. We had play dates, grown up get togethers, and traded babysitting. We celebrated birthdays and holidays, borrowed sugar and eggs, until the day came we had to say good bye. We moved three times before meeting up with them again. They recently made the cross country move to a town only twenty five minutes from where we now live.
My kids had their holiday piano recital this afternoon. In an effort to give them a small audience to play for I invited everyone I knew who lived close. I didn't think very many would come since the invitation was pretty last minute, but I was hoping for just a few people besides my mom and me who get to hear them practice every day anyway. And that is what I got. Our current neighbors came. Some new friends came, as well as our old neighbors from Washington. We really couldn't have asked for anything more. It was perfect.
After the event I invited our old friends to our house for pizza. It was great catching up and getting reacquainted. Even though the kids were much younger the last time we were all together they pretty much picked up where they left off. We also got to meet their new little one. Such a cutie! We made plans to together again soon.
I'm grateful for this opportunity to spend some more time with these wonderful people even though we will be moving away again in a couple of months. It's funny how sometimes you don't realize how much you missed someone until you see them again.