Goodbye, Farewell, See ya later.

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. You could say it has been busy over here. Plus, I haven't really left yet - so I feel like I am just the average blogger blogging about their day-to-day lives trying to captivate whoever's reading attention. And that's not my goal. The point of the blog is to keep in touch with you folks while being whoknowshowmany miles away in the remote land of donkey pulled carts.

So since the last post I have basically just been saying "Good-bye" a lot. And will continue to say goodbye until Monday May 18th

We had an awesome family get together at our house in Barrington. Every life created by my parents union was there in full force. It was a wonderful time filled with great memories and lots of pictures.

Unfortunately during this weekend, my grandmother Dearie passed. From what I understand though, her passing was nothing short of beautiful. She passed without pain in the arms of my Uncle Riall, her oldest child, in the early morning while reminiscing about the ones she loved. If only we could all be so lucky to step into the next life the way she did.

So the weekend get together ended with me saying goodbye to Kelly, Jay and their two amazing children. It will be a few years before I see them again, and I cannot wait to see who Haley and Emma are when I return.

And then I said goodbye to the house and to Barrington. Don't care so much about Barrington, but that house was Suh-weet! It was funny though. I was the last one in the house before we locked up and moved on. I sat on the counter in the kitchen and felt a twing of heartache knowing that when I walked out the doors, I would never be back. I reflected on how when we first moved there from Ridgefield, I dispised it. I spent long boring days in the house wanting nothing more than to leave that first summer. And leave I did! I drove back to Ridgefield because I couldn't emotionally handle the move! But as we spent more time in the house and had more memories of family and friends, it began to feel like home. And after 5 years of being there, it was totally home. Each part of the house held a memory of a good time at a holiday, or a bad defeat on the pool table by a certain brother-in-law...

It was a neat lesson to learn. That no matter how unnatural or uncomfortable or overall crappy a place or situation may seem, all you have to do is give it some time and make some fun memories there. I guess it was a good lesson to learn before being shipped to service in Bulgaria for the next 27 months! Let's just hope I remember it.

My friends at CDW threw me a going away paintball party last weekend. It was awesome. I had more fun than I have had in a long time. Nothing like shooting old co-workers and being shot in return.

And for the last goodbye that I am going through right now... Probably one of the hardest goodbyes. A decision that I have avoided this whole time. A promise that I would never say goodbye will be broken. I am selling Rubi. I had vowed that I would keep her until the day she died, but now I am making a choice that anyone who has let someone they love move on with their life understands. I have done my best to prepare Rubi for the real world.

We have shared laughs while cruising the open road on a sunny summer day with the doors and top off feeling the wind in our face as we sit on top of the world. We have cried together when parts break and need repairing and I can not afford to fix them at that moment. Her windshield has protected me from the sting of the rain when the top was left off and we got caught in a storm... She took me to lands I could never travel to without her. We got stuck, scratched, muddied, cut and bruised along the way - but she always got me home safe. We learned together while she let me install suspensions, shocks, brakes, t-case covers, 35 inch tires, a winch and bumper, a rear tire carrier, a soft top, steering stabilizer, cb radio, seat covers, KC hilites, fog light, and a new battery... just to name a few. I now feel comfortable sending her off to be with another. She is too beautiful, perfect and strong (and expensive) to be left in storage while I am gone. She needs to be out playing in the mud, conquering the snow covered roads and cruising in the sun. Who am I to deny her two summers? So farewell Rubi - You were my first and I will never forget you.

Last week Rubi and I went offroading and I buried her in a few feet of mud. Here is a picture - it was awesome.

So yes. I am sick of saying goodbye. Some of the hardest are yet to come.

But once they are over

I will be opening a new door to a new world and whole-heartedly, at the top of my lungs, say

HELLO! (or Zdravey!)

Be good,

Rory