Take a look at the right hand side of my blog (just under the e-mealz and Change 3 Things buttons) and you will see my countdown to fellowship ticker. It is crazy. I remember putting that up there and there were YEARS in the countdown. Now only days. I'm shocked at how difficult this move is for me. But I guess in 5 years Alex and I have started our life together, bought our first house together (which we LOVE and are so sad to leave), had 3 precious children, made life-long friends (I can't believe we won't be just down the the street and will have to make plans to see them in another month!). Geez, Memphis really snuck into our hearts! I am so grateful for our time here and the friendships we have formed.
It is so funny, I remember so distinctly hearing the wife of a doctor tell me how she cherished the residency years. How they were the best and she remembers them fondly. She told me this just after we started residency and I thought she was crazy. I mean, we had to move somewhere half way across the country from our family (where we didn't know anyone), my husband worked ALL THE TIME, and I was bored (I had not started teaching yet, so I was lonely, didn't know anything about Memphis, and the movers didn't bring our stuff until the end of the summer so I had 2 chairs, an air mattress, and read a lot of books and magazines that summer). But it didn't take long for Memphis to become home, for friends to be made, and for us to figure out how life as a family in residency would work. And now here I sit, sad that residency is almost over. Don't get me wrong, we are excited about the adventures we are about to embark on, but I will miss these days of monthly dinner out with the wives and having a group of people who all know what we are going through so we can help each other through it without having to explain it first. I will miss Memphis and all it has to offer us (Memphis gets a bad rap--sure, there is crime and it gets hot, but the zoo is amazing, free concerts, Broadway musicals, symphonies and operas, parks, and the list just goes on).
And who knows, maybe if residency had been shorter I would feel different. 5 years really is a long time. So, say a little prayer for me as we go through this transition. Good thing I have 3 young children to keep me distracted, right?!
