We are less than 5 weeks away from our big move to Germany. I'd been humming along nicely right up until last night.
I went to the post office earlier in the day and told the friendly post-woman who has been ringing through my orders and sending my prints all around the world for the last 4 years that we're moving. It's funny when you realize that someone who is almost a stranger knows you and your family and your business so well. She was understandably surprised, it's a big move, but I shrugged off her concerns, assuring her it's not really that big and that we've got it all under control. I blame my Finnish genes for this sense of calm that comes over me when major life stuff is happening. It's the smooth clear ice that seems to go on forever, right up until you fall into the open water. It's the feeling that everything is fine, everything is doable, as long as we have the important things, the rest can fall away. It carries me right up until the moment that I have to open my mouth to say my wedding vows, or put my newborn son in his carseat and drive away from the hospital for the first time. It's a business-as-usual, let's-not-get-too-hysterical place I go to when all signs point in the other direction. I don't know if it's a help, or a hindrance, but probably the former. The cracks in the ice are starting to appear, the first of which happened last night when I confirmed with Charles the date of Edwin's last day at daycare, last day.
It's the beginning of the goodbyes, and those are not easy. However, if there's anything I've learned after moving to Europe and back (and back again), it's that the world is a small place, and no distance is too great to stand in the way of love and friendship.
xo Bess
Aww!! So hard and sad, and yet so exciting and full of promise. That means it's a going to be a good change :) Cheering you on!! (and, dreading saying goodbye) xoxoxo
ReplyDeleteThank you for the cheers, Anile! xo
DeleteHooray for new beginnings!
ReplyDeleteEvery time I feel a funk coming on (all alone in foreign country, no social network, no job prospects...), I try to imagine how many people would jump and claw at the chance of breaking out of their cozy secure monotony.
Embrace being "the exotic girl" with weirdly different customs and outlooks. Embrace wiggling your way into existing social networks by bribing people with Canadian goodies (maple everything!). Embrace Skype. Embrace travelling with a kid. You'll miss out on tons of museums and nightlife, but will get to know parks, zoos and historical train routes by heart :-)
Most importantly of all, grab life by the balls and draw strength from the collective envy of people hearing of your decadent trips all across Europe:
- day trip to Paris? 3h43 nonstop by bullet train, city centre to city centre
- gluttonous weekend in Burgundy? 2h03 to Dijon
- skiing in the Alps? no biggie
- almond bloom in March (in Neustadt/Weinstraße, north of Freiburg)
- taking Eddie to Hamburg to see this: http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/
- checking out youth hostels catering to families (you can sleep in castles, windmills, treehouses...)
Focus on that :-)
Helen
Helen, that is the most inspiring and sweetest comment. Thank you!! I am super excited to embrace all Freiburg (and Europe) has to offer. xoxo PS. Thank you for the travel itineraries ;)
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