Bye bye clones

Tonight our close friends Chris and Sarah Markwell, along with 9-month old Elizabeth and dogs Bodie & Bayla (sp?) will hit the road on a 17-hour trek to their new home in Greer, South Carolina. They were our first, some would argue only, friends local to Louisville. Neighbors from two doors down in Sarah & my first condo/apartment in Louisville, Chris baited us with his then puppy golden retriever Bodie. Shortly after we were enjoying margaritas at the Rio, our pug Miles & Bodie's budding friendship, and the rest is history.

Chris's entrepreneurial attempts varied from an online consignment store, estate sale auctions, the distribution of Argentinian furniture with a bizarre, and certainly now broke, neighbor, and so on. Sarah maintained small jobs at Starbucks, a cheese emporium and substitute teaching. But Chris eventually hit it big with a tax consultation company whose operating plan he admits to blatantly stealing from an employer, and soon after they were rolling in dough.

We left the complex at the same time, us moving to a townhome on Pheasant Run, them buying a brand new townhome in Lafayette. We all considered each other pretty well off, and soon came their daughter Elizabeth (who we're pretty sure was Chris's idea), and we thought for certain they would be here to witness the birth of our first, just 11 weeks away now...

But by now they're cruising east, to a McMansion in the South. It boggles the mind both that the place is so big (they have 4 or 5 bedrooms and are now unsure if they even want a 2nd child), and that the home is where it is. With no friends and 8 hours from either of their families, we're left scratching our heads as to why they would pick up & go so soon, but we have no doubt they'll be just fine. Certainly financially.

It was eerie standing in their empty house having helped carry the last of their belongings to the vehicles, and while we enjoyed pushing their emotional buttons to tears for the weeks that preceded, it really hit Sarah and I then that this was it. At least they're sure to come back for the skiing, as rich folk are known to do.