When I moved to the Nashville area four years ago, I met a couple from Australia, Jeff and Rosemary Weston. They came to Nashville a few months ahead of me and my husband. Jeff was executive director of the World Convention of Churches of Christ.

All the hype of illegal immigration apparently has made it more difficult for legal immigrants to receive a green card. Don’t get me started on that subject! The result is that Jeff and Rosemary have to go back to Australia. They leave tomorrow evening (4/22/09) at 7 pm.

The last week or so has been a farewell tour of Nashville for them, with rounds of parties, dinners, and other get-togethers. I’ve had the privilege of being a part of that tour.

The consensus is that we’re all incensed about the reason for their leaving, but feel blessed by having them in our lives for these four years. That’s the way life works sometimes. People come and go and we rejoice and grieve. I remember John Claypool writing about the death of his daughter. He said what finally got him out of the pit of despair was the realization that he would rather have her a part of his life for ten years than not have her in his life at all.

So as I bid the Westons goodbye, I understand Claypool’s sentiments. I would rather have had them in my life for four years than never to have known them at all.