Home sick to the second degree. That’s how I’ve felt this past week. I have literally been at home sick this week with a stomach bug. And while it’s not a pleasant experience, I could account for the physical aches, pains and general discomfort. But it didn’t explain my mood, which was downright pathetic. I’m not a very good patient anyway. Just ask my husband. I enjoy rest, but not forced rest. While I should have just lain back and enjoyed some overdue reading and couch vegging, I found myself unsettled and distracted. It was only last night when I was starting to recover from the stomach bug that I recognized the source of my discontent. It was just regular, run of the mill case of…homesickness. Growing up, I did leave home for school and church events that took me away for a week, but I never experienced homesickness. Even in my past several years of traveling for work, I rarely ever felt homesick because I was too busy focusing on what I needed to do while out of town. But last October, we moved to the other side of the country, and I was all smiles-so ready for the adventure and the newness of a new home, new city, new job, new everything! My daughter and husband felt homesick at times, which was more than fine. It was quite normal, but then I’d focus on the wonderful present and future ahead of us, and it helped ease their homesickness. It’s now been five months, and the transition has brought so many tremendous joys and busyness that I really haven’t felt sadness, but grief hits people in different ways and at different times. Maybe I got sick due to germs or change in the weather. Or maybe I just finally realized that it was okay to be sad about who and what I left behind when I moved. I’m not one to cry in front of others. It causes me a lot of discomfort so even if my friends and family were in front of me, I wouldn’t cry to express how I feel about them. But I miss you all. I miss sitting in my friend’s garage while she sewed handbags for her kids or mine. I miss being able to drive home on a weekend to see my parents and siblings even though I never relished the 12 hour roundtrip. I miss my Friday morning mom coffee breaks that lasted three hours. I miss taking Lexi to Saturday story time at Barnes and Noble and getting a mocha and a cinnamon scone. I miss running the AV for children’s choir at church. I miss hearing everyone in the South complain about the thin sheet of ice on the road that had the capacity to shut down an entire city. I miss raiding through my friend’s bookshelves and finding Nancy Drew books that I used to read as a kid. When I left, some of my friends cried, and secretly, I didn’t understand why. What’s the big deal? Change happens. People come and go. I’m sorry. I get it now. I miss you, too.