She's Gone Away

Apologies to Ty Tabor and King's X for the title ...

Got an email from Tori yesterday. She is leaving today to go see her family in Iowa for a couple of weeks. Stacia is already there. She left last weekend. Her Dad bought her a plane ticket and off she went. Tori, on the other hand, is driving up with Stacia's boyfriend, Josh.

Mixed feelings invade my thoughts again.

On the one hand, I remember so fondly all the trips we made to Iowa to see her family. At first we simply jumped on a plane in Charlotte, flew to Kansas City, and then on to Cedar Rapids. Then Satan Airways .......er .... US Airways ..... pulled service out of Cedar Rapids so we started flying to Chicago and renting a car to drive over to Cedar Rapids.

We always had fun on those trips. Even the long drive from Chicago across the Mississippi River to Iowa. We were a family and we made the best of every situatiion.

I miss those trips.

I miss her family.

And part of me will miss her just knowing she is out of state .....

On the other hand ...... another part of me will feel lighter and breathe a sigh of relief because she is gone for a while. No accidental encounters at the grocery store, no phone calls, no "sightings" while out driving around.

Peace.

For a little while.

She's Gone Away.

I don't know if it's a good thing or bad .....