goodbyes are not for good

I wore my favorite hat Monday. My star hat. Its kaki cloth is pealing off the white plastic bill from almost ten years of wear and a few too many washings. I don’t wear it much because it’s endangered. But this was a special day. I was going to Mayberry (where they taped the Andy Griffin show) with the Dumont’s.

I’ve only known Tim and Angela Dumont since January, but it seems like years. They are the kind of friends that feel like family, because they are a family that knows no stranger. As a stranger they invited me into their humble, rented home*, served me homemade Chinese food from heaven, listened to my story (and told their own), and trusted me with their kids.

Tim and Ange have three kids. They are on a family planning system modeled after rabbits so they eventually will own their own school bus (just kidding dude). They home school too and I love them for that. Noah, Amber, and Claire are my three favorite people in North Carolina. While we walked the streets of Mayberry, we called the crosswalk stop signals, “high-five signs” and slapped each others hands until it was time to cross the street. Later that night, after we shared my last meal in NC (we made my mom’s famous “frito pie” and watched Mary Poppins), we played ring around the roses. Then I spun them in circles, one at a time, until I fell over dizzy or until one of them was hit by their spinning sibling’s foot. After one of them would cry or I regained consciousness, we’d do it again. At bedtime I read them The Potty Book, an inspiring and well illustrated book about going “wee-wee” and “poo-poo”. Recommend it.

Then they gave me hugs.
Then Tim and Angela and I took turns telling each other why we would miss each other (a good habit even when one is not saying goodbye).
Then they gave me hugs.
Then the kids gave me more hugs.

It’s good to wear a hat when you say goodbye. Incase you cry, that is.

I pulled my star hat down over my face because my heart was overflowing, leaking love out my eyes.

Amber kept giving me hugs and saying goodbye. I could feel her tiny little beating heart against my chest. She told me, “I’m gonna miss you this much”, extending her arms almost as far as they could reach.

This is the love I drove away waving at, wondering, “Why am I doing this?”

But goodbyes are not for good. And missing something means you have something worth missing. Maybe I’ll move back to NC someday, maybe not. I know I will write, visit, and never forget, the crazy and amazing Dumonts. They were to me grace. They are to me family.







*Tim and Ange have little, but so much...in a place where many have so much more, but far less. They have shown me that it is better to give, than to receive. What they have they’ve shared with me. I’m am greatly indebted.