Bon Voyage!
It’s so hard to say goodbye…
It was important to me that I made an effort to spend time with #myJayZ (how I affectionally refer to my nephew and niece, Jay & Ziza); my good friends since elementary school, Amber and Essence; my sisters, Nix and Neener; my (boyfriend’s ) dog, Gunner; and my behbeh, Jae.
As the time neared for me to leave, I began to take stock of the things I would miss out on. Among them were things like my niece, Ziza’s last gymnastics meet; it would be the only one I’d miss all season. I’ll miss my nephew, Jay’s spring performance at his school; his last as an elementary schooler. I’ll miss the birth of my best friend’s second child; her last one if you let her tell it. It is also highly likely that I will miss the opportunity to attend a court case that I have been waiting on since July 5, 2020.
A few weeks before leaving, I met up with Amber and Essence for crawfish. It was the first time we’d gotten together in person in a very very long time.
For my quality time with #myJayZ, I surprised them at school for lunch with their favorite pizzas from Pepperoni’s in tow. I just so happened to bring it in my thermal Le Cordon Bleu bag because I’m that person.
My sister, Dani, is the one who keeps me on my toes and who can always be counted on the be the champion of others, and most especially me! She’d been harassing me about when we could have one final Carter Girls Dinner before I left. As my list of preparedness was long, on Tuesday before my departure, I told her that only Wednesday evening would work. She joined me for the school lunch surprise with the kiddos and insisted that I do something with my hair before dinner that evening. I listened, because well she’s the boss (Laughing Out Loud).
After school lunch, Dani, Aisha and I took one more stab at finding bridesmaids’ dresses before our planned Carter Girls’ dinner.
To my surprise, what I thought would be a dinner for CG3 (and Wendy who I’d taken the liberty of inviting at the last minute), turned out to be a sweet bon voyage party of some of my closest friends. Dani had reserved and co-ordinated within 24 hours the main table at one of my (and any wanderluster’s) favorite restaurants, The Traveler’s Table. I am thankful for the friends who are always there to show up for me and for a sister who is always adamant about celebrating me.
It’s weird because I’m not going off to war or anything, but knowing that I’d spend so long without seeing Gunner and Jae was really overwhelming. Since the pandemic, I’d literally spent every single day (save my last one-week trip to Paris) with those two. Dinner every night. Fishing trips to the beach. As someone who’s traveled so much and who’d spent the majority of my life alone or in long-distance relationships, I didn’t realize that leaving this time would feel so different. I have never in my life cried over leaving town, but there was a first time for everything…
So after getting my last Houston meal, hot Shipley’s do-nuts, I kissed my boys goodbye and headed off to my current adventure!
