For the first time in weeks, my soul felt alive again. Feeling the wind wrap around me, holding my girl close and watching her hand float through the air, while my guy guided us with ease through traffic that was once again wonderfully chaotic. It was the most glorious feeling. After many months of lockdown, we were free. Rumors of lockdown starting again only pushed us out the door faster, to see our friends that have turned into family.
Stripping off our helmets and coats, I thanked God for His mercy in holding back the rain. As soon as we crossed the threshold and got inside the downpour began. I smiled, acknowledging His little nudge and imagining Him grinning mischievously. We climbed a single flight of stairs and the reunion began. Cooper went first and I could hear little squeals. Charlie and I walked in and then came the gasps. Three months ago she was just a baby, now she is a full-grown toddler. COVID-19 had indeed robbed us of watching one another grow through each moment. But nothing could dampen this sweet reunion, this sincere embrace. COVID-19 reminded us just how much we’ve come to love this place we call home.
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I could sit on the porch of the coffee shop just outside of the farmer's market forever. As long as I've got something to sip on, I'm content to sit and watch the myriad of expats pass by with their totes full of things to make dinner with, or to share with friends. I spot several Trader Joe's shopping totes and look down at my own and grin. Some of the passersby and I come from the same place. Most of the expats around me are clearly from other places. They look and sound very different.
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I know someone warned me this would happen at some point. Multiple people, I'm sure, told me to prepare my heart for this.
“People will come and go,” they said. “Your life will be in a constant state of flux and transition will be your new normal.” I'm sure I smiled and nodded with every intention of taking the advice they'd shared. But somehow it still shocked me when the first wave of people started to say they were leaving.
I was nervous about making new friends when we moved. I think I translated the warnings about the come-and-go nature of people living overseas to mean I needed to guard myself. I thought I needed to be very picky and choosey about who I spent my time with because you never know when they can up and leave.
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The baby stirs in her crib. It’s still in our room because the carpenter made it an inch too wide and it can’t fit through the door to her room which is, for some reason, more narrow than the other doors in the house. We were up most of the night. 40 hours of traveling back to our Asian home from the US has us all trading colds and coughs and fevers.
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