Together Again

A few weeks ago we had an incredible treat: two sets of visitors from our old home, Pittsburgh. For the three years Cooper lived in Pittsburgh we were a part of an amazing play group. The group of mothers became my closest friends, friends closer than any I've had since college. As children grew up and entered elementary school, the play group dissolved a bit. But three of the kids stuck together: Eleanor, Ryder and Cooper. Heather, mom to Eleanor, and Lee, mom to Ryder, lovingly gave me a beautiful shower before Ellery was born and are two of the best friends I could have ever hoped for. Without knowing it, Heather and Lee planned back-to-back trips to Columbus during their preschool spring break. Their visits were the warm rays of sunshine that have been missing from our spring.

First to arrive were Lee and her two boys Ryder (4) and Keller (2). Ryder and Cooper fell right back into playing as if it had been only a couple days, as opposed to almost 2 years, since they last saw each other. Keller joined in the play, and Ellery did her very best to tag right along with the big boys. While the volume in our house was decidedly louder than usual, it was so refreshing to see the boys cooperating and playing together, independent of the motherly interventions that were such a part of our playdates when the boys were toddlers in Pittsburgh. While the pictures are blurry (since I only have my iTouch camera and seem to have a great deal of difficulty holding still), you can get a taste of the fun had by all.

Cooper, Keller and Ryder

The crew reluctantly sits still long enough to snap a few pictures

Ellery and Keller run.

Next, Heather and Eleanor arrived, over-lapping their visit with the others for about half an hour. It was utterly surreal to see Cooper, Ryder, and Eleanor, along with Keller and Ellery all in our front yard. We sadly said good-bye to Lee, Ryder and Keller and Cooper and Eleanor quickly fell into step.

Eleanor and Cooper shared a special closeness when we lived in Pittsburgh. When Cooper was just 1, Eleanor used to feed him pretzels by hand. We saw Heather and Eleanor just about every week, and our friendship runs deep. After we moved, Eleanor still held a special place in Cooper's heart. The first Christmas after we moved here Cooper thought he spotted Eleanor at church, and tried desperately to catch up with her, only to have his heart break a little when he realized it wasn't her.

The pictures, though blurry, show how these two feel about each other. An amazing friendship indeed.

Don't you wish you could hear what they are talking about?!

Serious Lego builders

Cooper shared many hugs

I think you can see here that Eleanor didn't mind too much.

This is what Cooper looks like when he sees Eleanor.

Happy kids.

And then, before I knew it, it was time to say good-bye to Heather and Eleanor. 

Saying good-bye was incredibly difficult for me. I loved the picture I got of what our friendships, and our kids' friendships, would have been like if we hadn't moved away from Pittsburgh. 

When we moved from Pittsburgh to Ohio there were so many things to worry about. There was packing, cleaning, so many details, along with being a mom to a 3 year old and a 3 month old. I was also excited to be reunited with Erik, who had moved 6 weeks earlier. In retrospect, I didn't really let myself say good-bye to my friends, to really let it sink in what I was leaving behind. 

When Lee and Heather left our home in Columbus to return to their homes in Pittsburgh, my heart cracked open and I said both the good-bye I never said when we moved along with the tough good-bye that seeing them again necessitated.

Thank you Lee and Heather for coming to visit. It was amazing to have you here.Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for sharing your incredible children with me and my children. We will have to do it again soon. Girls weekend?