Dear Birmingham

Dear Birmingham,
Our time together is quickly drawing to a close.  I have to say, it is ending on a much happier note than when it began.  That doesn't mean that I am THRILLED to be leaving you.  Quite the contrary!  However, on the front end of my family's move to this part of Dixie, I was very unkind.  I almost wrote you off before giving you a fair shake.  When I think what I would have missed if Mr. Snark hadn't taken the job that brought us here, I am ashamed for being so harsh about you.  When I think about WHO we would have missed if Mr. Snark had turned down that job, it leaves me breathless.  I'm liable to leave out some of the whats and some of the whos, but I would be remiss for not even trying.

• To our church family at North Shelby Baptist:  When my family arrived on your doorstep, in early 2009, we were shattered.  We had buried Mr. Snark's dad in August, after a fierce and ferocious five month battle with cancer.  We LOVED our church/church family in Rolling Hills, GA (shout out to The Village People!).  Losing them was like another death.  You provided a soft place for us to land and to heal.  You made room for us.  Not every church family can do that.  Not every church family WILL do that.  It is no exaggeration when I say that I feel like we've always been here. 
• To my NSBC Choir:  You all deserve extra stars in your crowns for putting up with me.  Thank you for letting me be the happy-clappy lady on some Sundays and the Queen of the Sob Sisters on others.  Thank you for not trying to clip my wings on the Sundays when I honestly thought I could have flown! 
• To our Oak Mountain schools:  Thank you for the wonderful education my children have received.  I don't know what lies ahead of them but I know that they have been more than adequately prepared.  So many of your teachers have made lasting imprints upon my children.  You recognized their individuality and celebrated it.  You recognized that they had more potential and talent within themselves than what their classroom efforts might have shown and you didn't write them off.  You held them accountable and didn't try to interfere with me when had to do the same.
• To my Oak Mountain Football Mamas:  THIS IS OUR MOUNTAIN!  Even after Y1 made the decision to walk away from football, y'all still treated me like I was part of the "club."  We've slung hash (and thankfully carried home leftovers...well, until they hit high school and there weren't any leftovers), sat in the heat, sat in the rain and sat in the cold.  Win or lose and we learned A LOT about losing...which truly made the wins even sweeter!  TONS of stinking practice clothes!  GALLONS of Gatorade, Lysol and Fabreeze!  Money for lunches out or pedicures spent on co-pays to the ERs, sports MDs and orthopedists.  Oh, and the bananas...don't forget the bananas!  (Seriously, don't.  Depending on who the meal mom is, forgetting the bananas is just nearly a mortal sin!)You laughed at me when I got loud...which only encouraged me to be louder.  I still maintain that if we don't cheer on our boys, no one will.  Nobody rocks the Navy blue and red like y'all....no one ever will.
• To my girlyfriends...most of you came attached to church, which made being members at NSB even sweeter!  Oh, have we laughed and oh, how we've cried!  I wouldn't trade one laugh line or tear streaked moment for all the tea in Dixie!  Some of you ahead of me in life...some of you a few steps behind...some of you right beside me, down and dirty in the trenches of motherhood.  Between Jesus, my mama and y'all, Old Goathead doesn't stand a chance.  You are irreplaceable.  You've taught me so much about Jesus and you make me want to do everything I can to make sure everyone around me knows who He is.  (BTW...our new house is a pretty easy distance from Savannah...which is a great place for a girls' getaway...just sayin'!)
• To Publix:  Thank you for helping me feed my family.  Thank you for the sushi and the fried chicken (Hallalu-yer!).  Thank you for being so bright and clean.  Thank you for having friendly and helpful workers.  Thank you for being patient with me as I worked through my coupon obsession.  Thank you for having front end carry out service.  Thank you for having sweet-faced bag boys who didn't mind flirting with a middle-ish aged mom...or receiving specific instructions on how to pack the bags (tomatoes do NOT go on the bottom and ice cream does NOT belong next to the bag of sugar).
• To Taziki's, Edgar's, Hamburger Heaven, Jim-n-Nick's, Don Pepe, Baumhower's, Ming's and Full Moon:  We spent many lunches together.  Some folks have trouble going to restaurants alone.  I, obviously, am not one of them.  Without your nearly constant company, maybe my wallet will get a little bigger...and my waist a little smaller. 
• To Pepper Place Market...I will miss the blackberries, sausage biscuits, chocolate croissants, tomatoes of various sorts, fresh basil, cucumbers and peaches that filled my basket nearly every week during the summers.  I will even miss the super crunchy granola organic farmers, who all looked like they needed a really good bath with some not so organic soap.  Looks like I'm going to have to grow my own...I miss you, already.  (The veggies...not the super crunchy brown looking farmers.)
• To Highway 280:  You taught me patience and prudence and planning. I also learned some new hand signs that I am pretty sure aren't part of any ASL dictionary that I've ever seen.   
• I will miss the drive down 119 to I-65...so many pretty spots along the way.  I do think the powers that be should consider renaming this stretch of it "Schoolhouse Road."
• I will miss the drive up Double Oak Mountain...when the fog is lifting...when the sun is setting on the valley below and showering the sky with shades of blue and orange that I didn't know existed. 

It is a bittersweet parting.  I hope I've left you a little better off for the ones coming behind me.  I know that I'm all the better for having been here.

Much love,
Michelle