One Year Ago, Today...

One year ago, today, we bid farewell to my parents - who had helped us pack all day! We paid off the hired men for their hard work in loading our rental moving truck. We took one look around the house, and I nearly cried because there was still so much to do!

It was a day of melancholy, because we would be leaving Colorado and my parents behind. It was an epoch of joy, as we would set out the next day for our new home in Ohio. We were silly, sad, sappy, and STIFF from all the work we had performed that week.

I can still recall pausing on the front porch, one year ago today, and listening to the mocking bird make its "weeeeeeeeeee" call. I went down the steps and caressed the trunk of the ancient maple tree that had been in that front yard for more years than my parents have walked this earth. I drew a deep breath (because oxygen in Colorado is scarce!) and realized that we were on the verge of a new chapter in our lives - a new adventure loomed in the promise of dawn.

One year later, I can look back and honestly say that I have no regrets about our decision to leave Colorado. I have enjoyed each morning, afternoon and night in Ohio... in our own home, with my wonderful (and occasionally frustrating!) husband.

(I don't have any photographs from one year ago. But AnnieElf got me to thinking of frogs, so I dug through some old files on my computer found this one: Monty the Dart Frog.)