A Tribute to the Sherwoods

A little over six years ago David and I moved to Greensboro. 

When we moved into our new ward at church we were introduced to several other young couples. One of those couples was Greg and Nicolle Sherwood.  

We instantly became great friends with them. We had a lot in common and really enjoyed hanging out with each other. Over the past six years we have watched each other's families grow, seen each other through rough times, and laughed at each other for being crazy and silly. 

A little over a month ago they told us that Greg had been offered a new job. In Washington. STATE. They hadn't made up their minds yet, but were leaning towards moving.

I immediately thanked them for consulting us in the matter and told them that yes it was a nice offer, but to turn them down. 

When that didn't work I tried bribery. I offered to cook for them one home cooked meal a month and one free night of babysitting a month. 

The harder I tried to keep them here, the more likely it seemed they would move. 

When Nicolle finally broke the news to me, I am not going to lie, I was angry. 

Instead of being a good friend and telling them what a great opportunity it was for Greg and the whole family, I would send them hate messages on Facebook. 

I tried to make them feel guilty for leaving us, in the hopes that maybe, just maybe they would change their minds. I reminded them that they were going to miss Finley's 4th pirate birthday party, playing pick up soccer together, and where were we going to have our annual Easter Egg Hunt if they moved? 

Greg did tell me that he knew I was a true friend because I didn't sugar coat my feelings about them leaving. I let them know how much it was going to suck, and how I hated them for leaving, and how much we were going to miss each other. This was my way of telling them that we love them. 

Their time for departure came all too soon. I was glad we were able to give them a nice send off and have them spend the night with us for their last night in Greensboro, but it didn't make saying good bye any easier.  

Thank goodness they plan on coming to NC every year to visit family and to go to the beach. 

I am going to hold them to it if it is the last thing I do! 

That is the only way I am getting through this.  

By saying 'see you later' or 'see you soon' instead of 'Goodbye.'

So while we won't get to see each other every day or every week, we will get to keep in touch and see each other every year. 

Here are some of our favorite memories of the Sherwoods and the things we will miss most about them: 

-         When Clara was born, Greg was so giddy. It was so cute how excited he was. He even showed us how he knew Clara was his (as if there was any doubt) – Clara and Greg both had a small indention above their ears that is identical. Too cute.

-         Our annual group date night to go ice skating and get dessert at Cheesecakes by Alex. And how Greg always found a way to turn ice skating around the rink into a competition.

-         Our two chopped competitions. Favorite moments include, Greg’s interview with a French accent from the toilet, Nicolle burning the cough drops in the microwave (making our kitchen smell like cough drops for a week J ), Nicolle beating Greg twice, and Greg talking non stop about what he could have done differently for the next several months.

-         Greg always trying to recruit his friends to come and work for Volvo.

-         How Greg would always call to invite us to come watch him play Church basketball; and then when we would come to watch a game, seeing Greg get really mad, and sometimes thrown out of a game.

-         Music classes with Miss Nicolle and the babies. Finley loved your music class and Natalie still misses doing those together in the summer time. It was so much fun!

-         Playing soccer with you guys in the soccer Hiatt league, the summer Y league, and our old pick up games from way back. And how Greg would notoriously score a goal and then tell everyone he had to leave so he would always go out on a high note. Seeing super mom Nicolle feed the baby in between games or when she was subbed out. That is dedication to the team.

-         Our summer of fun Fridays. Nicolle was so great to organize a bunch of educational field trips for our group of stay at home moms. Some weeks we would see each other 3 or 4 times a week doing fun group activities.

-         Hearing Nicolle sing at various Bel Canto concerts, church meetings, or even at the opera in Chapel Hill. You are so amazing and talented! We were so blessed to have been able to hear you sing so much and we are going to miss it!

-         Our Amazing Race competition that we hosted. We still wish that we could have competed, but it was fun to put it on with you guys! I will never forget that tub of icing.

-         Walking group on Mondays. Catching up with everyone and sharing life and mommy knowledge.

-         Sunday dinners. We will so miss being able to get together with you guys on a regular basis for dinner. You guys are awesome cooks and Natalie loves that her recipe box has several of ‘Nicolle’s’ recipes in them now.

-         Our Amazing Race season competitions: watching it together before all the kids were born, the trash talking, the coveted gnome, the prizes, and our hopes to one day race it together. But don’t worry we will continue this tradition even after the move.

-         Easter Egg brunch and egg hunts at your house. You guys were so awesome having so many kids come tear up your yard looking for eggs. It was always a blast and we are going to miss that annual tradition.

-         SJ being such a tough girl. She would fall down and just pop right back up as if nothing ever happened.

-         Getting to host the first sleepover with Finley, SJ, and Clara when baby Sylvie was being born. The kids had so much fun together. And it was so fun to get to see Clara and SJ meet the baby for the first time. You guys have such a beautiful family.

 -         We are always impressed with you, Nicolle. How even though it was hard for you guys to get pregnant, and you had such rough pregnancies in terms of you being sick all the time, you still embraced it all and didn’t let it scare you away from having more children. We don’t think we know anyone else who is as tough as you or willing to go through all that you did three times, and maybe even more in the future. You are such an inspiration.

-         You guys rushing back from the beach to be at our Temple sealing. It meant so much to have you guys there with us that day supporting us!

-         Before Finley was born, you guys came over for dinner and Greg was “watching” Clara in the living room and prodding her with a stick to keep her out of trouble.  David remembers thinking, “This parenting thing doesn’t look so tough.”

Words cannot express how much we are going to miss you guys! You are dear friends and things won’t be the same without you guys here. We really do hope we get to see you every summer and can coordinate our summer beach trips. I am holding onto that to keep it together and not fall to pieces. 

We love you guys so much!