Friends who have left New York over the past few years have warned us that Right Now is the hardest part, the last couple weeks packing and preparing and goodbyeing.  ”You’re in the belly of the beast,” one friend wrote.  ”Keep your eye on the prize.”  My best friend Shannon gave me a book called “Leaving New York” a whole year ago, because she knows me so well. The book is full of essays by writers who once lived here until they didn’t anymore.  Turns out it’s not the easiest place in the world to leave.

Two days ago on Friday, Troy and I joined the other moms and dads for Muscota’s final Family Breakfast of the year. There were lots of “if I don’t see you again” hugs and well-wishes in the midst of bigger conversations looking ahead to the next year without us.  At the end we kissed our second grader and began a goodbye tour of our own.  We walked by our first apartment on Riverside Drive, around the corner from Huck’s school, and briefly saw it all through our 1997 eyes. We made our way over to the Hudson River and found our old spot on the rocks where Max and Molly used to spend Saturday afternoons playing.  Though it’s been 3-1/2 years since Max died, we had yet to do anything with his ashes and decided now was the time, since New York was Max’s town.  So through tears and happy memories we spread them into the river at the same spot we left Molly so many years ago.

Next I joined our fave friend Shana for the last thing on my NYC bucket list: the Tenement Museum.  Together we left the beautiful June afternoon to enter the Hard Times Tour, and I decided that was a good name for what these last few weeks have felt like.

The day ended with a Goodbye picnic at the beautiful Castle Village lawn overlooking the river and the G.W. Bridge with some of our closest neighborhood friends. These are people we met when our now 8 year olds were little babies, so our friendships grew during some of the most precious (and sleep deprived) days of our lives.

And then came Saturday and our last New York Hurrah with “The Ballad of Rusty and Roy.”  In her curtain speech, director Shana called it our Farewell Tour. Through a strange fluke of goodness, a wonderful theatre called The Barrow Group gave us a staged reading in their little studio theatre. While Huck hung out with his pal Olive, we spent the afternoon with Shana and Dusty working on the new version (mostly created down in Fayetteville last year) before sharing it with quite possibly the best audience ever assembled.  There were many special people in the room, including a few we hadn’t seen in over a decade, some we see all the time, and even three Fayetteville friends to make the evening extra magical.  Afterwards we gathered at a nearby pub for more laughter and conversation and tears and hugs. Good Times and Hard Times all rolled into one.

And finally, this morning we said goodbye to the Fort Washington Collegiate Church, our second home for nearly 15 years!  And in a beautiful stroke of irony, I watched Huck bond with Troy’s wonderful replacement Janna as they told each other complex riddles and giggles throughout lunch.  I think we would have all been really good friends.

Lord have mercy.

My sister Jeni requested less sadness and more happy, so I’ll leave with pictures of joyful celebrations we’ve shared with special friends over the last few weeks.   But first, here’s my favorite thing I packed up from my humble little office at the church last week, proof that no matter how obviously important you are to someone, it’s always nice to hear it.