Pamela Drive

How do you ever get prepared to say goodbye? As much as I am looking forward to our new life in Tennessee, I am just as equally dreading the final goodbye to all I have ever known here in Napa. I have been so blessed to have had the luxury of family nearby my entire life. You see, when I was 4 years old, I moved into my house on Pamela Drive. Just a few houses down from my Mimi and Papa. I walked the path from my house to my grandparents about a million times. I could do it with my eyes shut. Even when I was at my dad’s house on Geraldine Court I was still in the neighborhood. 34 years here. From my early childhood memories of running to and from my grandparent’s house, to Chad and I moving into our first home, to us bringing each and every baby home from the hospital. I feel like my entire life was lived here on Pamela Drive. My most favorite times though were when my sister moved 4 houses down from us and my Mimi was still with us. It was a sweet time of my life that I will always hold dear to my heart. My mom, me, my sister and my Mimi all within 4 houses of each other. Those impromptu morning walks, the boys running between grammy’s and auntie’s house, the last minute phone texts when we were cooking dinner: “Hey , do you have an egg I can borrow?” The knowing that no matter what, we were never alone. I am going to miss that the most. My entire life was lived here on Pamela Drive. Chad and I were lucky enough to find our home on this street. We never knew that we would ever stay as long as we did, but life was so sweet that we never really considered even moving from this place. I remember the early days of our marriage. Learning how to cook, constantly calling my mom and Mimi about advice on meals. I remember after the wedding, taking a pregnancy test and finding out that Chad and I were going to be parents. Bringing Tyson home from the hospital and having my mom and Mimi within a minutes call is something that I will never forget. Our first Christmas as a family, Tyson’s first birthday, adding Weston, Braxton and Jaxon into the mix and experiencing countless firsts: first steps, first birthdays, first Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmases and Easters. Celebrating anniversaries, first days of school, backyard BBQs, summertime fire pit nights, running through sprinklers and even those sleepless nights rocking babies who had fevers or nightmares. My heart and soul will forever have a piece of Pamela Drive. As we move on to our new home in Tennessee I feel nothing but love and gratitude for the street that made me who I am. Pamela will always be a part of me and it will always be a place that I will hold dear to my heart. Thank you Pamela Drive for giving me the best memories, for giving my children the closeness of family and for all of the treasured moments that will forever be a part of us. I am so lucky to have had such a strong foundation to allow me to have the confidence and bravery to venture out and create a new start in a faraway place. I am leaving a part of my soul behind, but I look forward to the new life Chad and I will create. We are making our dreams come true and for that I am so very thankful. Pamela Drive will forever be in my heart.