Mon Aventure

It was a sunny morning this week as I drove through the rolling, green hills of South Western Virginia, marveling over how blessed I am.  I left my husband's family with promises to call as soon as I safely reached the big highway with cell phone range, also juggling calls to my first family to satisfy their eagerness with an estimated arrival time.  I wonder how many people can say they have not only one large group of people who love them, pray over them, worry over them and eagerly await their visits, but two large groups filled with just such people.  As I contemplated this while rolling over the beautiful hills of my home state, I was filled with a gratitude so full and warm, it was unlike anything I've ever felt before.

Come to think of it, gratitude seems to be a theme with me lately.  Four weeks ago I walked through each room of our empty flat in Switzerland and was filled with a similar awe.  The movers had come and gone and I followed behind with a mop and broom, bringing the wood floor to a sparkle.  The only thing remaining was to walk out the door and hand over the key.  It was a busy time and there was much to do, but as I headed for the door I felt something tugging me to stay just another minute, to walk through each room and give thanks for the time we spent there.  Every place I've lived, I've felt the tug of this five or ten minute ritual.  The sensation is overwhelming.  Five or ten minutes never feels like enough time and my words always seem inadequate.  I trust my heart makes up for whatever my words lack.

The following picture is what our furniture looked like before it was loaded into the container to be shipped across the ocean.  They wrap EVERYTHING, even the largest pieces, up like gifts in wrapping paper.

As I write this, four weeks later, these items are arriving at the port in Miami to clear customs.

Finally shutting the door, I walked across the street, dragging my two huge suitcases behind me, headed to La Cour des Augustins, our hotel, our home away from home when in Geneva.  Allowing myself, for the first time in days, to realize that I was actually bone weary, I was ever so grateful for the cool, white, relaxing room awaiting me.






Now it was time for Chris and I to rest, tend to last minute moving details and await our flight to Guam, where we would visit Chris’ brother’s family and learn to Scuba Dive.


The following photos are of our time in Guam…

























 
We had the time of our lives in Guam with Chris' brother's family.  But after two and a half weeks, it was time to continue our journey of moving back to the U.S.

We left Guam, returned to Switzerland to collect Bear, flew to D.C., bought a car and drove to Roanoke to spend a few days with Chris parents and to collect Tigger who has spent the last year and a half with Chris’ parents while we were in Switzerland.


So far, our return to the United States is everything we expected it to be… a comfortable sigh of relief.

As I write to you, I’m wearing beach clothes, sitting in the breeze under Grandma’s cottage in Nags Head, North Carolina. My dogs are at my feet and Chris is back in Switzerland on one of many business trips.


In two or three weeks, we’ll both head for Florida to settle in.

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the end of this blog.  There will be other blogs, other stories to tell, but this one has reached it's end and it is for the best and most happy reason...  I'm headed home to the land I love, America the beautiful.

We planned to be in Europe for three years, but now find ourselves going home after a year and a half for reasons related to our desire to start a family.  We still pray for and expect to enjoy a pregnancy one day, but right now we are pursuing adoption and adoption is easier when filing from your own country.

So stay tuned for my next blog titled, "Deep Scent of Jasmine," based on my love affair with Florida, which started in 1997.  http://deepscent.blogspot.com/

The truth is, I love the whole of the United States now in a way I could never have experienced if I had not left her for this year and a half.   Eleven days ago on July 4th, I connected to the celebration of my country in a way I've never felt before.  In the past, I always enjoyed the fireworks, but that's about it.  I didn't have a strong sense of belonging anywhere, so naturally I couldn't connect to this celebration on a deeper level.  Spending a year away has granted me the gift of "belonging."  Some people leave the country of their birth and find belonging in another country.  Much like the spirit of adoption, they are grafted in and a new country becomes their true home.  On the other hand, the majority of us will always belong in the country of our birth, whether we're given the gift of appreciating it or not.

I've received the gift.  In five weeks I'll be stepping off a plane in the United States, this time to stay.  I've always thought it was super silly when people get off a plane and kiss the ground, but now I understand.  The asphalt will be hot enough to fry eggs in August, so I think I'll still pass, but I finally understand the sentiment.

I still have no idea to which state I belong.  I used to think it was Virginia, but now I'm not so sure.  What I do know is that I belong in the United States of America and it's the most wonderful feeling.

America is not better than all the other countries.  There are many other countries which deserve equal respect.  To say America is the best would be like saying "my family is better than your family."  I never want to have that attitude.  Nonetheless, America is an amazing country, one to be proud of and worth fighting to protect.  Whatever America may experience in the coming years, for better or for worse, I want to be there to experience it with her.

Enough with the sentimental... Mon Aventure is not over yet!  We still have 5 more weeks of  International adventure, which will include me overcoming my fears and learning to Scuba Dive in the South Pacific!

In two weeks our furniture will be collected to start it's journey to Florida while Chris and I head to Guam to visit his brother's family for 3 weeks.  Stay tuned!