The SUNNY Side of the "Boro"

About 45 minutes from Nashville is a city called Murfreesboro, TN. The "Boro" as it is apparently called by many locals, became the home of my sister (our "Sunny") and her family after hurricane Katrina changed their path in life. In the past four years we have called the Boro many things...temporary home, holiday vacation spot, storm evacuation safe haven and probably most often...the place that took a big part of our beloved family away.

Although it would be very easy to remain bitter or depressed about this fact, the truth is that it is the very BEST place for our Sunny and her family to be. My neices, Amanda and Alison who are now 17 and 16 years old, have thrived there. It is a beautiful, safe and a friendly place that has opened a better life away from the Soup Bowl for a part of our family. Our "Sunny" as my sister is called, got her name from my grandparents who called her their "Sunshine" and they would have loved the Boro. She wasn't just THEIR Sunny though. If you meet my sister you quickly begin to realize that her affect on the lives she touches goes way beyond the terms sister, daughter, wife, friend and Aunt. She is much more than those words to all of us.

Several weeks ago we spent some time in the very SUNNY side of the Boro. I knew it would be a special trip when on the night before our departure our son Cole allowed me to blow dry his hair for the very first time because "he wanted to look good for Amanda & Alison" (his cousins who he thinks are goddesses apparently!).

The Sunny side of the Boro includes WAY too many gifts, ice cream, games and enough activities day and night to fill a four year old's dream. Speaking of 4 year old's, Cole actually turned 4 during our visit. A special day that included a trip to the Nashville Zoo, new "Life is Good" shirts, pizza, Wii games, an AWESOME Spiderman bike, slip n' slide AND a Spongebob Squarepants Birthday bash were all on the agenda and are still being talked about now that we are back at home. For me, it was the first birthday - (4 years later) that my head wasn't filled with memories of how we spent Cole's first birthday arrival into a world in utter chaos that Katrina left us.

It was perfect in too many ways and once again way too hard to say goodbye, yet...our Life in the Soupbowl calls and so another goodbye filled with way too many tears on my part occurs followed by that emptiness that never gets filled once we are apart.