Commencement

Commencement

• 7.09.2011

Best Buds Jed and Des

We’ve been celebrating summer by going to the beach on Lake Champlain with friends. My friend Gina has five little “monkeys”. Her youngest is Desmond. He’s two. Jed and Des have known each other since, well, Jed was born. They look for each other, point, and grin. It’s really cute; they get so excited! Jed and Des don’t actually play together, just alongside one another. But they really like each other nonetheless.

This is both a beginning and an end.

I am packing all of our belongings away into boxes in preparation for our big move out west in less than two weeks. I hate packing. It’s miserable and overwhelming work. I am having a hard time motivating myself to buckle down and do it. The sunshine outside is calling to me; it wants me to ride my bike or go to the beach, do anything but stay cooped up inside and waste its beautiful rays. I can’t believe the time to move is finally here. It still doesn’t feel real. How can my routine here just suddenly end? But it will. I will wake up one morning, finish packing, say some good-byes, and walk onto an airplane with Jed on my hip. (Bron will follow a week later with his brother and a truck packed full of our belongings.) The thought of saying a final good-bye to this richly green place and all our friends makes me sad. I know I am going to bawl my eyes out. This is one of those times when you just know that this moment—that this certain set of people and the way things are right now—can never be the same ever again. We’ve been lucky enough to be a part of this unique community here at Miner Institute. I’m desperately going to miss it.

However, we’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time now. The year ahead of us holds lots of new stresses, changes, and adjustments. But it’s exciting!

Playing in the sand brings back so many memories of my own childhood. My brother and I used to dig big holes and bury one another. We also built elaborate castle keeps with walls and mountains. It’s fun to teach Jed how to play in the sand.

Sometimes I can’t believe this is my life. When I start counting my blessings, my mental jaw drops and I stand in awe. I am a wife to a man I love and he loves me. Bron is about to begin a great job in the area we dreamed about settling down in because it’s home; it’s near family and all that is beautiful and familiar to us. It seems that everything our family needs is procured. We will buy a house this year. The thought makes me giddy and scared. My blessings also include being a mother to a cute little boy. I get to stay at home with him and play all day long, every day. It’s work, but it’s the best job in the world! I am well educated. I am talented. I am well traveled. By the way, we are going to HAWAII in August to celebrate Bron’s big accomplishment!!! I am down-right spoiled! And sooo excited! At first glance, it seems that I have everything; that my life is perfect. And it truly feels that way! But that’s exactly what terrifies me.

I feel like I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Everything in life has its opposite: good and bad, light and dark, joy and sorrow. Because everything is going so well right now, I feel like something has to go unexpectedly wrong. But maybe the stresses and adjustments to our new life will be enough this year to balance out this good streak. Or maybe this is our “pay day” after surviving two years here. Or maybe things are simply just good right now and I ought to soak up every moment of it and not spend an ounce of energy worrying about the future and things I can’t control; just worry about how many more boxes I will need to finish packing. Yes, I think I will concentrate on the good things that are going on right now and leave the worrying to someone else. Life will always have its up and downs, but the downs seem to work themselves out most of the time. So no worries, right?

Isabel made a Twilight comparison regarding Jed and Desmond. Jed is blindingly white like a vampire. Des could be a werewolf. Haha!

We are ending a good thing here in New York. It’s been a blessing, a challenge, and an adventure. There is no doubt that I will miss some incredible friends and our lifestyle here. But we are beginning a new venture out west. We are about to embark on the journey of making our dreams a reality. Wish us luck! It’s bitter sweet, but so thrilling too!

Life's a beach!