Adventures with four girls: It's sad to say good-bye....

Friday, February 7, 2014

It's sad to say good-bye....

We have oh so sadly bid good-bye to an amazing little fifth grader and dear, dear friend of Regan's. Regan and Yu kyung have been friends since third grade and inseparable since fourth grade. I just love this kid and mourn the fact that Regan won't have her calm, good-hearted presence beside her as she marches off to middle school next year. I also feel a little bit of guilt for bringing Regan to a transitory place where these kinds of good-byes are all but inevitable.

Yu kyung is from South Korea and her family is off to India where her father's work is taking them. Regan and Yu kyung are now "planning" to take a gap year together as they think that is more likely than trying to go to the same college (funny kids, these little ones are!).

We had a wonderful good-bye party for Yu kyung and her sweet parents delayed their move for a week so that Yu kyung can attend the 5th grade overnight field trip. They flew out only hours after the kids got back from their overnight trip. On the day they got back, I couldn't meet the bus as it arrived the same time I needed to pick up the other girls. When I finally found Regan, Yu kyung and two of their other good friends, they were just all a weeping pile of sadness. Yu kyung is a tough kid but staying good-bye to Abu Dhabi, ACS and her friends was a little more than her toughness could handle. We managed to pull off one last playdate at our house with one last tetherball tournament, one last pizza dinner and one last movie. Yu kyung's mom picked her up from our house on her way to the airport so we definitely got as much of Yu kyung as we could before she left on an overnight flight to Korea to see family before heading to India to start at her new school.

For the going away party, I pulled together a slideshow of Yu kyungs' time at school and had help from other mom's gathering photos. On the day I pulled the slideshow together, I had a good cry over my sadness of her leaving and Regan not having her by her side. I had probably 80+ photos that included Yu kyung in just my photo library alone (if that tells you something about how much time she has spent with our family). Her mom needed to be out of the country for almost a month for an emergency and Yu kyung came to our house after school almost every day. She just blended right into our family. And she will be missed. Very much.

She and Regan are so good together. They are happy to be 10 going on 11 and not 10 going on 15 - they are enjoying their childhood and are in no hurry to grow up. I don't think there has been an iota of drama in the more than 2 years of their friendship (there has definitely been friendship drama in their class! But never between these two). Yu kyung is so sweet to Regan's little sisters and they will miss her, too.

Farewell, dear friend. Very best wishes on your next adventure and we won't forget you and the beautiful friendship you and Regan shared during your time in Abu Dhabi.

And I'm just putting a smidge of the photos we have here!