Today is Thanksgiving. As I get ready to head to work, I
take pleasure in reading everyone’s posts about the holiday – Macy’s Day
Parade, the football, the food, the shopping….I got to thinking (a bit earlier this
year) just how significant this time of the year is to us and reflecting on all
that’s happened over the last year and what’s to come...
In one year (and a bit) you can make a bittersweet decision
to change your life as you know it and embark on a great adventure. You can
feel a plethora of emotions – anxiety, nerves, sadness as you say goodbye to your
nearest and dearest including your beloved car, sheer excitement that you are
following your dreams. You can discover that in pursuing your dream you’ll
willingly do things that only a few weeks ago would be inconceivable -
like getting up at the crack of dawn and traveling 2 + hours 1 way to work. You can reconnect
with an old friend and dance to nursery rhymes with the next generation. You
can get a bit tipse and debate the whims of life and the ever important bucket
list with your cousins. You can have your runs high-jacked by small children
and head to the playground. You can experience disappointment that you never
see any of those people who were so keen for you to move to your new city. You
can have a huge sense of relief to know that the people you will spend 40 hours
a week with are some of the best nutters you’ve ever met. You can showcase your
hidden DIY talents to stunned family members. You can find the perfect flat for
yourself and bask in your great find especially when it’s in one of the worst
cities for real-estate. You can further gloat when you successfully smuggle in
your contraband cats and manage to hide them from several engineers and the
building managers months later. You can travel home for the holidays &
experience sheer bliss at hanging out with those you said 'see you soon' to a few
months back & indulge in all the goodies you can’t get in your new city.
You can go jet-skiing in Mexico on Christmas Day. You can miss home and all its comforts in a way that you never
thought possible & question every decision you made about moving but when
it’s time to say good-bye to home and head back to your new city, you can rest
easy knowing you made the right
decision. You can laugh until you cry with your new friends, have a bit of
banter with much loved comedians, throw stones into the sea with your baby
cousin, discover your new city’s hidden secrets, raise a glass or two in a
converted church, come face to face with ancient history, sample the Manischewitz & celebrate the
best damn showgirl you’ve ever met, share your new city with visitors from
home, learn to take the snarky comments about your home country in stride, fall
in love for the second time in your life with the city you have wanted to visit
for years & have the time of your life with one of your closest friends. A
few short weeks later, you can have your heart broken as you watch that same
city come under attack. You can say ‘mission accomplished’ after successfully
pulling off a surprise visit home for an epic birthday.
In one year (and a bit) you can move to London and have an
absolute whirlwind of a year. In one year (and a bit) your great adventure can
come to a screeching halt and your life can irrevocably change.
1 month ago today I lost my Miss Kitte & Griffith, my flat, my possessions –
pictures, jewelry, knickknacks, people’s carefully thought-out Christmas
presents, my impressive magnet collection…. I lost my friend of 25 years – he
came into my life during a time of crisis, traveled the world with me & left
me during a time of crisis. He was a bit worn around the edges…to me he was
just as pristine as the day he came into my world. His name was SnowFlake.
Today is Thanksgiving. I am thankful for the gift of life,
my family and friends on both sides of the pond, the years I shared with Miss
Kitte and Griffith, the opportunity to move to London, my community’s amazing
show of support and my £10 faux Converse. As we head into the holiday season, I look
forward to celebrating the simple things in life and seeing what the next
chapter of the great adventure holds. ShelleB may be down, but she’s back in
the ring and ready for another swing & she wishes everyone back home a warm and wonderful Happy Thanksgiving !!!! =)
