The process of moving from San Diego to Saint Paul is a substantial move.
There are emotions - amplified.
There is uncertainty, to be sure - the house to which they are moving is “sight unseen.” I have vouched for it, at length. And have done much to prepare the place for their arrival. But still, anyone moving to a place they’d never visited would naturally be tentative. (It is quite a leap of faith.)
It is also worth mentioning – the Midwest could be a strange and alienating landscape for desert folk. And Tom and Liz, aside from a stint in the Pacific Northwest, are children of the Sunbaked Southwest. I imagine it will take them some adjusting to acclimate to the place. Especially as winter settles in.
I am excited for this next new chapter in their lives.
We will have difficult conversations – inevitable for family with a shared driveway. And we might even get into fights from time to time. But we are superbly lucky to welcome them to our sweet neighborhood. I love it here, and am proud to call this place my home.
Yes, I am nervous it isn’t a perfect fit. But then, I remember, it can’t be a perfect fit. What is? The world is what you make of it. Wherever you live can be the best place on earth. Anything less is a failure of imagination. (Unless you live in Provo, Utah. In which case, my condolences.)
So here’s to new beginnings. With all the uncertainties, the inevitable difficulties, and the trauma, there will also be the good times as well – holidays without the panic of travel, shared beers on the back porch, Saturday morning bike rides. And on, and on.
Mom and dad will unfortunately have to forgive me for catching their picture at the end of a hard day’s work – after packing and sorting a household in the height of the San Diego summer and enduring several small existential crises that naturally comes with reconciling their relationship with a lifetime of gathered items.
But this is a moment in time. It is a big moment in time that should be remembered, if only to remember it as something we should never, ever do again.