Don’t Know What You’ve Got ‘Till It’s Gone…

Every time I go through a new experience, I am more in awe of the way that my mother navigated through a very active life; one that she really didn’t sign up for. A hometown kind of girl, she would have been very happy to have stayed in that hometown (a situation that offers many benefits, for sure). But, Daddy was a dreamer; an adventurer – and the Mop was the most supportive of partners. For several years, we moved once a year. This was one of the first corporate moves (of many). This one was to Jacksonville, Florida.

Every move, Mop would list and sell the house herself (corporate policy let her keep the real estate fee if she sold it herself), packed up the contents of the house herself, flew to the new location and found/purchased a new house, enrolled us in school, and headed out. She was always active in PTA, cooked every meal (except for the occasional bag of Crystal Burgers that we would buy when we dropped Daddy off at the airport), wrote long letters every week to her parents back in Texas…and we NEVER MISSED A DAY OF SCHOOL.

Move on Saturday, start school on Monday…every time! (And, unlike her loser daughter…she could always find the birth certificates, shot records and school transcripts).
Yep…what Joni Mitchell said (perhaps in a different context), “You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” xoxo