MY Amy

Do you ever get happy---- sad news that just makes you want to cry? Yet at the same time you feel the butterflies of excitement.  Well that is what I got this morning.  Amy is moving to the beach!  Which Amy?  There are a lot of Amy's out there.  MY Amy.  That is how I always answered, when we were growing up, whenever someone would ask: Which Amy?

"My Amy" is my aunt.  She is my dad's youngest sister.  They have both the same parents.  Dad was the oldest of 5 and Amy was the youngest.  My grandma had Dad when she was 16 and Amy when she was 43.  She is younger then me by one year, one month, and 10 days.  But she is not just an aunt.  She was more like a cousin, best friend, sister all rolled into one.  We were raised in each others homes.  We went on most of our vacations together.  We took dance together.  We got sick together.  We went to Vacation Bible school together.  We went to church together.  We played for HOURS in the vacant lot together.  We made dandelion crowns in the Macaldo's field. We played Little House on the Prairie.  We played horses.  We choreographed some amazing dances. We were basically professional lip singers.  We staged gymnastic competitions.  We created synchronized swimming routines.  We smoked candy cigarettes together. We bought matching blond wigs and dressed alike and wondered if anyone would think we were twins.  We sold lemonade door to door.  We started our very own Babysitters Club.  We buried treasure in her front yard....that will never be found! We went on road trips together.  We saw New Kids on the Block....three times.....together.  We went to Jimmy's Grill with granddaddy and bonded together to fight the injustice of older siblings, who were allowed privileges we were "too young" to enjoy:  driving the truck around the neighborhood for example.

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We went on double dates together. We talked about crushes and nursed our broken hearts together.  We went to movies and out to dinner.  Spent MANY weekends at the mall. When we were not physically together we were on the phone....for hours! We had some bad haircuts and worse perms together. Remember the lion look we sported for a while? YIKES!  We were real life official blood sisters.  Well...okay....it was ketchup....but still!  We got in REALLY big fights....about once every year or so....but we made up fast.  Growing up we were inseparable.

We have lived in the same town most of our lives.  Yes we had a stint in college and Amy had the job in DC, but those were temporary.  Moving to the beach with your family...... to the town where your husbands family lives.  When your little boy is going to start kindergarten in the fall......it just seems so permanent.  Sigh.  Tears.

The weddings. 

 Setting up our homes.  

The babies. 

 The funerals. 

 The family gatherings.

The celebrations.

 The trip to New York.  

The nights on your back porch.  

Your kids playing here in the summer. 

 The good times.  The bad times....Me and Amy together forever.  It's just a loss.  She's not gone. I know that.   It will just be different.  Different is hard for me, but I'm getting lots of practice!

ANYWAY

Don't get me wrong.  I am SUPER excited for her.  I mean she is going to live at THE BEACH!  That is exciting.   Me and Amy LOVE the beach.  We grew up spending our summers at Emerald Isle at a beach house our families shared.  Our visions of life ALWAYS included us living at the beach.  Now we can both say we have! I just did it my first year of marriage while I finished off college.  She is really moving there.  Setting up a home.  WOW!  I really am excited for her.  What an amazing adventure.  A dream come true!  I will definitely have an excuse to go to the beach now!  As if I needed one.  I'm just going to miss her.

Durham will not be the same without My Amy!

We don't see each other much now.  We have all the kids birthdays.  The occasional church egg hunt.  The much too infrequent visits.  The slightly more frequent summer visits.  Yet knowing she was here and knowing she was nearby..... I liked it.  

Growing up is not for sissy's.  

But....we got this girl!  It's going to take more then a move to the beach to break us up!

I'll love you forever!

LYLAS

Kim