Home and Highwood
Drumroll. I am moving!! It is official!! Whoohoooooo!!! My car pulls out next Friday morning loaded with crap and Miss Lilly and we are on our way to Highwood, IL! I am a little excited to say the least. Not so much about the fourteen hour drive again, but about the feeling that when I get out of the car and step out and breathe that cold Illinois air, I'm home. I am so ready to be with that sweet hubby of mine it almost hurts. I can't wait to post next week and show you all pictures of our new place and the cute little town we've decided to live in.
This is probably the most exciting blog posts I have ever written...and a bittersweet one. I am entering into my last week as a North Carolina resident and that is such a strange feeling. Do not get me wrong, the wheels of my car will be peeling out when I leave next Friday - me and Lilly Bear are DEFINITELY ready to be a family in a home again with our James Howard, but I must admit it got me thinking about this place I've called home for twenty five years. My family will atest to the fact that the past week my state of mind has been a sad and a lost one. I've had this huge yearning to go "home" and have felt like I had nowhere to go to get that feeling. When I was telling Annie this my sweet sister said her home will always be my home too (and that is a blessing) but I replied with "But James won't be there." Ahh yes Julie que the sappy music and "Home is where the heart is" which is so true, my home will always be with James and our family. And in all my excitement and determination to be with my husband again, the realization that I will no longer be so close to all of my favorite people is a sad one. I am surrounded by amazing people in my life. And since I've been apart from James four months I've probably called all of your houses "home" at least one night along the way...so I thank you :) This blog is about the ins and outs of being a "military family" and one of the biggest changes James and I are getting used to is saying "See you laters" (we don't like goodbyes, too final) not only to each other but to all of you as well. I can say though with absolute certainty that you have all made it very easy on us. Your excitement for us just makes us that much more happy to be start the adventure. (Finally.)
So while sitting on Annie's couch this morning I saw a familiar book on her coffee table. In December 2006, we were approaching Christmas and the one year anniversary of our Grandfather's passing. I was going through an interesting point in my life and pondering the same thought I was this morning. I found a passage I wrote for Granny and for all of us Grandkids and it made me cry in such a happy way. If anything, she has taught me that change is inevitable, but you can always come home. I'll post it below so forgive me for the long blog post, but I just wanted to share it on this beautiful Fall North Carolina morning.
In our lives today, there are not many constants. Change is something that happens all around us, and even though sometimes it isn't something we welcome or easily accept, it happens nontheless. There are certain things we expect to be the same, certain feelings we tuck away in a special place, and certain people that stay with us always, long after we've said goodbye. In most children's lives, that one constant, if they are lucky, is home. There are five people who have been blessed with homes that many envy, some attempt to recreate, and some are blessed to be called a friend, because in these homes, friend means family. But to these homes is a stem, or rather a trunk I should say. After all, these five people come from a family tree, so yes...there is a trunk. One that sometimes is only understood by them. And for that reason they are all eternally grateful.
There are smells that will only bring a smile to their faces. Sure, other people recogize them, but these five understand the feeling that the smell of ivory soap brings. They can't help but stop when they smell Pert Plus shampoo, a fresh rose as a different meaning to them than it would a stranger, and butter cream icing, well...butter cream icing is love. These five have many things in common, more than they care to admit sometimes, but even in the struggles of life there is one place where they can walk in the door and feel like the most important person in the world, and this place has remained a constant in these five people's lives since the beginning of time as they know it. When searching for commonality among each other in difficult times, they always reach for this place and the memories it holds. This place is Granny's house, and these five people are her grandchildren.
Aside from these smells and aside from the pecan tree, the building, the jet port, the bag of clothes, and patent leather shoes and pearl earrings, aside from the recliners and familiar beds, and even aside from the sound of that train that will stop me in my tracks anywhere....there was a lesson I have learned from this home. And one I think we all take away from this home. We were lucky to have two wonderful grandparents in our lives like Margaret and Eldridge. We may be stubborn like Eldridge, but we also learned how to live life to its fullest and enjoy the small things in life. We may be strong minded like Margaret, but that strong mind gives us strong wills. And more importantly, to love like a Beasley is a very special love that people are blessed to come by. To love like a Beasley is to do it with heart and soul, because that is the only love we have been given.
So as I sat down to write the story of Granny's home, I realized that the reason we can walk in the door to this day and feel the same way we did when we were eight years old is because the love in that home is what has remained the same. The pictures have changed, furniture will come and go, new plants bloom each year, but even after we've said goodbye to one of the most important and influential men in our life, the love of that home has not changed. The tree trunk that spans into this wonderful, crazy group of people I thank God I'm blessed to call my family, is the center of it all. My wish for Granny this year and every year forward, is to know that she and Granddaddy have been the lighthouse in their grandchildren's lives that has at times guided them, at times called them home, but that the light will shine forever. My wish for her is to know that her love taught us how to love. Knonw that you made each one of us feel like your favorite each time you said our name, and know that we love you a bushel and a peck.
I am one lucky lady. My husband and I are starting this great journey where we will probably have many homes along the way, and I'm just so glad I have all of you as lighthouses to guide us to the places that we called home for so many years.
First "HOME" is in Highwood, IL - address is below!! Cell phones will stay the same!
James, Julie, and Lilly Green
628 Sheridan Road
Apt. 3D
Highwood, IL 60040
Have an awesome week and stay tuned for the first post from our first station! Keep Lilly and I in your prayers as we head that way next Friday. Enjoy the beautiful weather!
This is probably the most exciting blog posts I have ever written...and a bittersweet one. I am entering into my last week as a North Carolina resident and that is such a strange feeling. Do not get me wrong, the wheels of my car will be peeling out when I leave next Friday - me and Lilly Bear are DEFINITELY ready to be a family in a home again with our James Howard, but I must admit it got me thinking about this place I've called home for twenty five years. My family will atest to the fact that the past week my state of mind has been a sad and a lost one. I've had this huge yearning to go "home" and have felt like I had nowhere to go to get that feeling. When I was telling Annie this my sweet sister said her home will always be my home too (and that is a blessing) but I replied with "But James won't be there." Ahh yes Julie que the sappy music and "Home is where the heart is" which is so true, my home will always be with James and our family. And in all my excitement and determination to be with my husband again, the realization that I will no longer be so close to all of my favorite people is a sad one. I am surrounded by amazing people in my life. And since I've been apart from James four months I've probably called all of your houses "home" at least one night along the way...so I thank you :) This blog is about the ins and outs of being a "military family" and one of the biggest changes James and I are getting used to is saying "See you laters" (we don't like goodbyes, too final) not only to each other but to all of you as well. I can say though with absolute certainty that you have all made it very easy on us. Your excitement for us just makes us that much more happy to be start the adventure. (Finally.)
So while sitting on Annie's couch this morning I saw a familiar book on her coffee table. In December 2006, we were approaching Christmas and the one year anniversary of our Grandfather's passing. I was going through an interesting point in my life and pondering the same thought I was this morning. I found a passage I wrote for Granny and for all of us Grandkids and it made me cry in such a happy way. If anything, she has taught me that change is inevitable, but you can always come home. I'll post it below so forgive me for the long blog post, but I just wanted to share it on this beautiful Fall North Carolina morning.
In our lives today, there are not many constants. Change is something that happens all around us, and even though sometimes it isn't something we welcome or easily accept, it happens nontheless. There are certain things we expect to be the same, certain feelings we tuck away in a special place, and certain people that stay with us always, long after we've said goodbye. In most children's lives, that one constant, if they are lucky, is home. There are five people who have been blessed with homes that many envy, some attempt to recreate, and some are blessed to be called a friend, because in these homes, friend means family. But to these homes is a stem, or rather a trunk I should say. After all, these five people come from a family tree, so yes...there is a trunk. One that sometimes is only understood by them. And for that reason they are all eternally grateful.
There are smells that will only bring a smile to their faces. Sure, other people recogize them, but these five understand the feeling that the smell of ivory soap brings. They can't help but stop when they smell Pert Plus shampoo, a fresh rose as a different meaning to them than it would a stranger, and butter cream icing, well...butter cream icing is love. These five have many things in common, more than they care to admit sometimes, but even in the struggles of life there is one place where they can walk in the door and feel like the most important person in the world, and this place has remained a constant in these five people's lives since the beginning of time as they know it. When searching for commonality among each other in difficult times, they always reach for this place and the memories it holds. This place is Granny's house, and these five people are her grandchildren.
Aside from these smells and aside from the pecan tree, the building, the jet port, the bag of clothes, and patent leather shoes and pearl earrings, aside from the recliners and familiar beds, and even aside from the sound of that train that will stop me in my tracks anywhere....there was a lesson I have learned from this home. And one I think we all take away from this home. We were lucky to have two wonderful grandparents in our lives like Margaret and Eldridge. We may be stubborn like Eldridge, but we also learned how to live life to its fullest and enjoy the small things in life. We may be strong minded like Margaret, but that strong mind gives us strong wills. And more importantly, to love like a Beasley is a very special love that people are blessed to come by. To love like a Beasley is to do it with heart and soul, because that is the only love we have been given.
So as I sat down to write the story of Granny's home, I realized that the reason we can walk in the door to this day and feel the same way we did when we were eight years old is because the love in that home is what has remained the same. The pictures have changed, furniture will come and go, new plants bloom each year, but even after we've said goodbye to one of the most important and influential men in our life, the love of that home has not changed. The tree trunk that spans into this wonderful, crazy group of people I thank God I'm blessed to call my family, is the center of it all. My wish for Granny this year and every year forward, is to know that she and Granddaddy have been the lighthouse in their grandchildren's lives that has at times guided them, at times called them home, but that the light will shine forever. My wish for her is to know that her love taught us how to love. Knonw that you made each one of us feel like your favorite each time you said our name, and know that we love you a bushel and a peck.
I am one lucky lady. My husband and I are starting this great journey where we will probably have many homes along the way, and I'm just so glad I have all of you as lighthouses to guide us to the places that we called home for so many years.
First "HOME" is in Highwood, IL - address is below!! Cell phones will stay the same!
James, Julie, and Lilly Green
628 Sheridan Road
Apt. 3D
Highwood, IL 60040
Have an awesome week and stay tuned for the first post from our first station! Keep Lilly and I in your prayers as we head that way next Friday. Enjoy the beautiful weather!
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