The list of all that I miss from where we lived before

So here's how it is.

12 years ago I moved to New Jersey, a new state to me, in a new part of the country to me, where I had never lived before.  I had no family living there, and did not know anyone when we moved there.  Neither did my husband.  Our closest family lived thousands of miles away. 

So the connections I made over the years I lived there were so important, so central, to my life.  And this made leaving all those connections even more difficult.

Just to skim the surface, here is a very incomplete list of all I miss, from our former home and life.

Our house
The history of 6 years in our house
My babies grew up in that house
My second baby learned to walk and talk in that house
6 years of my babies/children playing in that yard
Our church
The wonderful people at our church
Our ministers, Mark and Joy
Mark and Joy's sermons
Our 12 year history at our church
Both my babies baptized at our church
My children singing with childrens choirs at our church
Barbara Thomson, our church's Music Director
Our 12 year history in New Jersey
Our neighbors Mary Ann and Ron, and Ebony
Sharing our homemade soups, cakes, and foods, with each other
Mary Ann being so kind to bring me homemade soup when I was sick
Ron thinking my baking was yummy
Our neighbors Marie, Ian, Justin and Liam
Handing down happy toys and clothes to families we know
Having my girlfriend Dawn be able to walk 4 houses down the street, with coffee in hand, to have girl talk with me
Having my girlfriend Dianne sit at my table and chat with me over coffee
(coffee is a theme here, yes)
School
our history there, and next door at the preschool
Still going back to visit the wonderful teachers at preschool
Mrs. Lazare, Mrs. Eggert, Mrs. Waters, Mrs. Whalen, Mrs. McConville
being a Classroom Mom at school
(our new school doesn't do holiday parties in classroom, and no food, due to so many food allergies amongst students.  I know this is common now, but still, I miss it.)
bringing cupcakes for birthdays in classroom
On their birthday, students carrying extra cupcakes to teachers classrooms and the front office, and being given fun happy stickers and pencils, and being able to bring a few classmates with them to share in the fun
Chatting with my girlfriends while waiting at afterschool pickup
Dawn Dineen, Dianne, Leslie, Mara, Andrea, Dawn Santos
Wonderful PTO President Lisa Kubereit
Awesome principal Mr. Diehl
My kids getting a kick out of how happy Mr. Diehl got when we brought homemade applre bread to him
Mr. Diehl jumping up and down in excitement over homemade apple bread
Rita's
Nomahegan Park
Vicki's Diner, and the owner Helen, and hostess Dorothy
Memories there with my late Grampa Eddie
Memories there with Craig and our kids
Watchung Reservation
Photos taken at Watchung on the day of my baby shower, pregnant with my first child
Photos taken there with my first child, while pregnant with my second child
Frosty Freez, in Garwood
Fujiyama Mama
The South Plainfield Public Library
Children's Librarians Miss Linda and Miss Mija
Memories of storytime when my kids were little
Summer Reading Program every summer we lived there
The Fanwood Library, Children's Department

But, I have to say, five months later, after moving here, I am already more comfortable in our new house, new neighborhood, new school.

Change is constant, they say.  I am embracing that.