Beauty Moves

I moved to Lynchburg about eleven years ago, and it wasn't because of Liberty University.  In fact, I'd never even heard of Jerry Falwell or Liberty Mountain.  My family moved here for other reasons.


  We made friends pretty quickly, and that's when the devastation started. See, Lynchburg is a college town, and people who live in college towns are notorious for not staying put.  Lynchburg is just a resting point, a leg up to the next place people are going.  I make a new girlfriend, a year later she's moved on to the next phase of her life.  And it's usually far, far away, too, as in I will probably never see these women again!  Even when it's closer by, though, a long-distance relationship is just never the same.  It breaks my heart.  Remember that old Paul Young song "Every time you go away, you take a piece of me with you"?  My friend Renee carried off a piece, my friend Danielle carried one off, Maribeth, Jessica, Courtney, and a bunch more.  Their time in Lynchburg was finished, so they moved their beautiful selves off to somewhere else, and I have stayed here.  Some I was very close to and some I just liked hanging out with, but they all added beauty to my life!  


  One of my earliest Lynchburg friends is Kristina.  Kristina befriended me at church early on, and I've loved her ever since.  I remember going to visit her in the hospital when her first baby Sammy was born.  He was a preemie, so tiny, and she was such a beautiful first time mom.  Now Sammy is a big, beautiful kid with two little brothers!  I've watched all three grow and been blessed to watch Kristina be their beautiful mom!  


  I went by Kristina's house the other day, and tried to pull up the 'For Sale' sign in her yard.  Someone had pushed that sucker in deep, though, because it wouldn't come up.  Yeah, she's told me she's going, but I've turned a deaf ear to it.  The sign made it real.  Kristina is moving.  She's going to be taking a big piece of me with her!  


  I could cry and whine about losing all my beautiful girlfriends to the reality of life, but I can't.  Well, I can, but it wouldn't be right.  I've been too blessed to have them in my life to ever regret losing them!  Kristina will be moving on.  She's moving north, and I never travel north, so I may never see her again.  But she's been such a beautiful blessing in my life that I can't hold a grudge.  And I always have Facebook so I can still see her three beautiful boys grow!