life update + some news!!
It's funny that just this past spring we were thinking we were putting down some roots and settling in for some quiet. Well, as they say, even the best laid plans go awry. For putting down roots in the south is not in the cards for our family, at least not right now. Right now the clever north wind has called us back "home," home to the place where Kevin grew up, where we met and fell in love, where we had our wedding and where our parents still live. Guys we are moving to Annapolis, MD!! It still gives me butterflies to say that out loud. It's something we've dreamed of for years and years and when the perfect job was offered to Kevin there was no way we could say no. So here we are, barely two years into living in this house and we're packing it up and heading out of town.
In an effort to be honest with you I will say that many tears were shed by more than one member of this family. We had really come to love this town, this home and our quiet life here. I loved our routine - walking downstairs to see the sun coming up over the trees in the backyard, bathing the kitchen in a soft yellow glow. I loved sitting in the living room during a rainstorm and watching the trees through the huge dining room window. I loved catching the kids completely immersed in play in their playroom illuminated by the gable windows on the sides. I loved the sound of the birds, the view of the mountains and the quiet country road that leads to our neighborhood. But perhaps thanks in part to my gypsy soul that was cultivated thanks to over a dozen moves before my sixteenth birthday every parting is bittersweet for me because I know that as much as my heart will always miss what will be gone there is so much good yet to be seen and known. There will be another home, another neighborhood. New birds and trees to fall in love with and roads to discover.
There's so much that we still don't know about how the rest of this year will look for us but one thing we are certain of - by golly we're going to have fun. I've never truly felt like I have a place I can call home but for over a decade now Maryland has felt more like home than anywhere else. I love Annapolis and the nautical culture there, I love the mountains and valleys of neighboring Virginia, I love the energy of DC and I love that I know it all like the back of my hand. I sorely missed all the free museums and art galleries that one has access to there. I missed seeing new plays that leave you inspired and electrified. I missed picnics by the bay. But probably more than anything I have missed my parents. Our hearty Russian dinners followed by chats late into the night. Our twilight walks through their sleepy neighborhood and trips to Chincoteague or Virginia. I know the kids have missed them too.
Georgia will always have a special place in my heart, after all Teddy was born here and his birth certificate will bear that fact forever. I've come to love the people, food and nature here. I'll miss this home terribly. In less than two years we had made so many lasting memories, filled its walls with so much love and joy and inevitable heartbreak. But our recent vacation underscored something for me this year - life is not about the four walls we live in but rather who we live in it with. Homes will come and go. Furniture will break down and go out of style. Neighborhoods will change and some will disappear. But our family, our family will always be with us. And so I know that as long as we have each other's hands to hold we will be happy, no matter where we live.
As I look towards our last month here which will begin in just a few days and I think about all the "lasts" we want to make sure to check off I can't help but we overwhelmed with gratitude. For the people we've met who have touched our lives in one way or another. For the sights we've seen and will never forget. And for the way these last three years have given us so much room for growth. Sure it wasn't always painless or easy but I'm proud of the people that we've become. I feel as though I came here very much still a young girl but I'm leaving a woman. I've got a few more years and pounds on me, some half dozen more wrinkles and sun spots. Some extra wounds I'm still working on healing and hard lessons that often weigh me down. But I'm also more grounded, confident and secure. And what better gift can one ask for in life than that?
“The journey itself is my home.”