This Freeway Leads Somewhere

Leaving San Diego is very hard. I love this city. I love the weather. I love good Mexican food. I love the familiarity, the beauty, and the freeways. Is it strange to have your favorite freeway? I have two. I love the 163 and the 5. A stretch of the 163 wraps through Balboa Park with large archways covered by gargantuan trees and climbing vines, under the Cabrillo Bridge. I love where the 5 sweeps along the water, particularly the San Diego Bay near the airport, and up along Encinitas, Carlsbad, and Oceanside. I never noticed until Rachel pointed out that in Southern Cal, you refer to the freeways preceded by the article "THE". SO TRUE.

When we first moved here everyone wanted to know how hard it was to move from Hawaii. It was hard. Very, very, hard. I missed the very same things I will miss about San Diego. I missed the tropical climate. I missed plate lunches, Ted's Bakery on the North Shore, and the Grass Skirt Grill. My favorite freeway on Oahu was the H3, right through the lush and breathtaking Ko'olau Mountains. I know you are thinking about your favorite freeway now. So what makes it special for you?

This city is special. It is my home. My parents taught me to love miles and miles of endless coastline, to adore the Spanish architecture of Balboa Park, and to love the diversity of downtown San Diego. The same little train I rode in Balboa Park as a child my parents rode as children. It is the same little train my children love. The San Diego Zoo, the Wild Animal Park, and Sea World are all places I went as a child, and now I share with my children. And in a few days we will not just jump in the minivan and zip down the 5 freeway to downtown.

My third beautiful son was born at the same hospital where I was born. He is nine months and not crawling. He scoots and rolls from one end of the room to the other, squealing like he has climbed a mountain. I am convinced he isn't crawling because he is held A LOT. He is so precious. This time we are all too aware that time with these babies is so brief. I have enjoyed his entire infancy. And soon he will be a toddler. And just like our time in San Diego, his infancy will end.

Not too long ago the Hubs asked me to start blogging again. He is getting sentimental on me now. He wants our kids to know our Family Journey. Shortly after he told me this, he was on a business trip. Son1 fell fast asleep on our couch. I tried to scoop my Kindergartner in my arms. He is only 12 or 13 inches shorter than me. I laid his head on my shoulder, and his toes dragged across our tile floor. His nearly 60 pound body was so awkward for my short frame to carry. I am only 5'1" on a good day. I started up our 17 vertical steps to his room and realized he could bowl me over with his dead weight. So I gently placed him on the steps, shook him a little, and asked him to walk. The second I said it, tears burned in my eyes. I was shocked. I did not expect the grief I felt for an instant. I could no longer scoop up my eldest son without planning how to carry him without dropping him. Or killing me. Granted, he is in the 98% for height and weight and I am smurf sized. Well, not really. I would love my waistline to be smurf sized. What would life be without goals?

I knew as I watched my Kindergartner trudge up our stairs I needed to start blogging again. I knew when I stumbled upon pictures, let out a gasp, and covered my mouth I needed to write again. I was overwhelmed by a preschooler and a toddler that were no more. The little boy that came to California a preschooler will soon start First Grade on the other side of the country, and Lord willing, that toddler will soon be a preschooler, bundled in snow boots and jackets this year.

Is it wrong to miss this house? I already know the answer to that. NO. I will miss this house. I sat in the back yard on the flagstone love seat the Hubs and I designed and cried and told him I will miss this house. Most of all, I will miss the memories I have shared here with so many, that my children have shared with other children. We placed an offer on this home sight unseen. What a transformation this once stripped foreclosure has undergone. Our backyard was designed completely for our children. They have loved every inch of this house, inside and out.

Time in San Diego has about run out, but our Family Journey has not. So I am back to blogging, back to sharing our stories, back to sharing our lives. But tell me something. What is your favorite freeway? Where does it lead? Have you ever left somewhere special?