I remembered yesterday that this week marks two years since our last trip to the United States. I cannot recall the exact date we left America, but I know it was before Lydia was a month old, so it was sometime right before September 15, 2007.
In some ways, I can't believe it's been two years already. And other times it feels like that last trip was so long ago.
Time is like that. At least it is for me. Time is so connected to emotion, so that the way I feel about time determines a lot. So some days I feel like it has been ages since our last trip, and I really miss some things and people and experiences in America. Other days I feel like time is passing so quickly, and it feels like just yesterday that Lydia was a teeny tiny baby boarding a big airplane headed across the Pacific.
The (relative) stability has been really good for our family. We've done some significant travel in the past two years, but only in SE Asia. Our longest times away from home were the 5 weeks up north in March 2009 when Isaac was born, and a 4 week trip to Thailand the summer of 2008.
In our lifestyle, that doesn't qualify as a lot of travel and transition :)
Our current (tentative) plans are to spend 6 months in America during the fall of 2010. I am excited. Excited to be with friends and family. Excited to see our children experience some of America. Excited to enjoy the 'niceties' of life in America... like minivans and dishwashers and backyards and big washing machines.
But I am also excited to be here. This is home. This is where we live. Now America feels like a place to visit. Home is a place to live.
So I'll be ready to get on that airplane next summer. But I'm not counting the days.
I will probably cry the day we take off, so sad to leave. And probably cry the next day when we finally land, so happy to arrive! [And probably cry during the trip when the tasks and turmoil of toting a family of 5 plus six months of belongings overwhelms me and I burst into tears in the Chicago airport. But that's a whole different topic.]
3 comments:
I am SO hoping to see you while you stay!! And I SO wish I was in GF to help get a place ready for you to live!! :-)
Seems you're feeling reflective on life, the passage of time, the comfortable love of home and life in Asia but missing loving family in America. We miss you everyday, some days worse than others. But we know your home is where you live - just wish it weren't so far away! And we ARE counting the days to next fall! We love you, Mom
I am with your mom on this one, I too can't wait till you come!! I wish I had that "home" feeling about a state we lived in. I can't see my self staying in any of the states we have lived in so far. Can't wait to get back to NC! Love Julie
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