Monday, April 29, 2013

Otown: The Beginning of a Prolonged Goodbye

Beyond all reason, other than the plenteous and undeserved grace of God, our rental application was accepted and the lease is in our hands for the tiny little cottage that will be the backdrop for Family Happiness Es style. 

I guess Obi was right when he had second thoughts about submitting photographic evidence of our well brought up children along with our background check:


So as to that news we are feeling "happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time," as The One I Love to Hate, Taylor Swift would put it.

Which means, amidst all the excitement, we are beginning a prolonged goodbye to all our old haunts. 

Yesterday, it was Obi's pick for our Out to Lunch Pact, and he chose the Jimmy John's just down Orange Avenue from our downtown church: home of the financial district, the bar scene, and the Family Es Sunday noontime.   So much fun.





Surroundings take on a nostalgic flavor when you realize it is your last experience of them.  A great gift to our family is has been to travel so far from our home (about 45 minutes, mostly highway) for Mass each week, each time a pilgrimage of sorts.  It has given us the incentive to really enjoy some unusual experiences for a rowdy, untamed large family. 

We absolutely stick out all Amish-like walking down Orange Avenue, with our toddlers and teenagers, mixing with the street artists, homeless, businessmen and hipsters.








We have no hopefully misconceived notions that we are a beautiful parade-like commercial for the Culture of Life, as I think our Catholic Conscience would like us to believe.  But we have so much enjoyed walking city streets with our motley crew, pretending we are part of the scenery ourselves, enjoying the seedy parts (Jude) and the couture equally (AnneMarie).




We wanted for our counter-culture kids, part homeschooled, part catholic schooled, part public schooled, 100% God's children, to know that this is their world, all of it. 

And all street people, who all walk a different life, these are their brothers, and these glorious cities and places, this is their home, and wherever they go, they belong just as they are...








...with the world's most annoying mom.


11 comments:

  1. Love :) I miss our downtown parish in Houston terribly. There's just something about driving past a homeless shelter, a giant fancy baseball stadium, and our Gothic-style Catholic church all within two blocks of each other. It's beautiful, really. Now we have more of a small-city/border-town feel, which is different from living in suburbia, but I miss being close to the big city and all it offers. Hope your family handles the transition to beach life well!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gotta love a good teenager:toddler ratio! I know we sure do. :) Enjoy and relish your goodbyes to your current set of circumstances so your new opportunities can be welcomed with open arms and eager hearts! Great pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  3. We lived there for a year and I worked downtown during that time. I would walk to the fountain/lake for lunch every day and just soak up the sunshine before the rains would hit late afternoon every day it seemed.
    We stick out like a sore thumb when we travel to Vermont, it's like being the feature in a zoo. People literally stop eating to watch us in a restaurant, which is too much for my kin to Tom Sawyer boys to not want to put a show on for them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our boys are cut of the same cloth!

      I loved that you worked downtown! I have always daydreamed about how fun that would be, especially the lunch breaks. That is a life I have never experienced.

      Delete
  4. annoying? naw. I am sure I could win that trophy!

    Love family time and busy cities!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Every time I think, "This is my favorite post of Rebekah's" then you come up with another one, and I think, "Ok, THIS one is" and so on and so on.

    ReplyDelete
  6. We wanted our counter-culture kids.....to know that this is their world, all of it. So, so loving that.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love this post. We are leading interestingly parallel lives. Sticking out, saying goodbye... Insightful and beautifully done. And I'm sure you ARE like a parade with your model-gorgeous family strolling down the street.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know! The similarities are amazing! I have so enjoyed watching your family's story unfold. It's a shame we aren't ending up on the same coast.

      Delete
  8. Sweet, happy Sunday. But somehow...I'm just not going to miss Orlando very much for you. (-; Seeing as you're about to live at 2453 HeavenOnEarth St. and all...

    ReplyDelete
  9. That Isaac is one pretty boy!!!

    ReplyDelete

I heart comments!