letter to home.

Dear Knoxville,

How is it that our time with you has come to a close so quickly? We have learned so much here with you. We have grown so much and changed so much. Yet in hindsight if feels as though our time together was so brief. In the long run, I suppose it was.

I remember the first time we met. I had never seen so many big bushy green trees in one place before. Remember how I sat on the floor of the smoke-smelling apartment and cried? I just knew you would never be home. I just knew it would be the longest hardest two years of my life. I just knew I wouldn’t survive.

Then something happened. Chris got going in his program, I found a great job surrounded by your wonderful kind people. We met friends in our ward. We got to know you. You showed off your beautiful autumn, your snowless winter, and your sunny spring. We began to see your virtues as well as your vices.

We experienced so much together. Remember the morning of December 6, 2008? Remember how Chris and I stared at that pregnancy test in disbelief? You celebrated with us that day. For a whole 24 hours you were the only one who knew our beautiful secret.

Remember August 9, 2009? Remember how we stayed up all night together timing contractions? We watched as they got stronger and closer together. Remember when sweet Carly came into the world? Yours were the first sounds she ever heard, the first sights she ever saw, the first air she ever breathed. You will always have a special place in my heart for that reason alone.

Remember all those nights where we stayed up all night, just you, me, and Carly? Poor Chris had to get up at the crack of dawn and go to school, so we let him sleep on the living room floor. Remember watching her learn to eat, smile, sit, crawl, and walk? Can you believe how fast she has grown? You have been here through it all.

Remember watching Chris cross the stage at graduation, wearing his Masters hood? For so long I thought the day would never come, then all the sudden it was there. I was so proud of him. Weren’t you? He worked so hard and completed the work he came here to do.

To be honest, I haven’t always said completely nice things about you. I complain about your summers (you should really work on your humidity problems). I complain about how you are so far from my family. I complain about this and that and the other. But I really did enjoy our time together, and I may even admit that I’ll miss you.

Really all I have left to say is thank you.
Thank you for your beautiful park that was an escape for me and Carly.
Thank you for teaching me the value of the word y’all.
Thank you for your church softball league, where we found a place to belong.
Thank you for showing me how to live my faith out loud.
Thank you for the Target around the corner, and the Mall across the street.
Thank you for the friendships you made it possible for us to form.
Thank you for Calhoun’s and Qdoba and Jimmy Johns. It was because of you that I met them all.
Thank you for showing me how to love and depend on my husband more than ever.
Thank you for taking care of us.
Thank you for being home.

Love, Erin