It’s been almost 5 years now.
5 years of trying to figure out the best way to manage vacation and trips to see family when most of our family lives far away.
5 years of birthdays.
5 years of celebrating most holidays on our own.
It’s been 5 years of good, bad, amazing and messy.
I think I’ve figured out a couple of things. Being uprooted and attempting to get planted again gave me some clarity on what really mattered. I learned that no place or person was ever going to meet all my needs.
I asked my friend, Angela, who has moved many times, her thoughts on her experience with moving. She said that, as she looks back, she had a pattern of running when things were hard. She would hit a wall and think a move would help. This time, for now, she’s staying where she is. It’s hard. She’s missing some dear friends where she used to live. When she was talking about these close friends, she said something profound. She suggested that maybe she had relied too much on those friendships.
That’s a hard lesson. A valuable one.
Some lessons are easier to learn when we aren’t settled and comfortable.