It's So Hard to Say Goodbye

So a major event in our lives this summer was that Paige's friend, Riley, moved.  They moved closer to the city and her mom's work.  It was the right thing for their family, but it was hard to see them go.  Riley has been a constant fixture in our home for the past year.  She has been like another member of our family.  She and Paige pretty much did everything together.  Riley's mom, Jane, has also been a very good friend to me.  We have both seen each other through some tough times in our lives.

We miss them a lot, but fortunately they didn't move far away only about 90 minutes.  It is however, far enough to preclude the daily visits we were used to.  Paige hasn't outwardly seemed too upset about the change, but she has been a lot more difficult recently which makes me wonder if Riley's move is part of  it somehow.  Nowadays, it's a lot easier to keep in touch with social media, technology and FaceTime, but there is definitely the reality that we probably won't be as close anymore.

Not long after the official move, Paige went and spent the night with Riley at her new house.  The next day, Ashley and I went to pick Paige up, get a tour of the new place, and then go over to nearby Lake Michigan for a day of fun at Gilson Beach.  We had a great time and hopefully we will be able to keep in touch.  School starts for us pretty soon, so it will definitely be more of a challenge to find the time to visit, but I'm sure we will make it work.

Ashley and Paige

Riley and her cousin

Little did we know that Ashley would bring home an earful of bacteria after her day at the beach.  She developed Swimmer's Ear/outer ear infection.  I called the doctor right away and they gave her some antibiotic drops.  Unfortunately after 4 days on the drops she was not improving, so we had to go in for a visit.  We left with the medications you see above.  This was all about getting tough on the infection and fortunately it did the trick and she finally got better.

And finally, here is one of my all-time favorite pictures of Paige and Riley.  It's a few years old but just looking at it makes me teary.  Friendships like this are rare.