As I’ve examined our lives, I’ve seen so much purpose and
joy in the path we’ve been on, but I also see so much benefit to making some changes.
My husband and I have recently made a choice based on a deep desire we’ve held
for quite some time – we are moving back to our hometown to be closer to our
families and to eventually find our little spot in the country.
Many people who have moved away from their hometowns
probably think that returning to their ‘roots’ would make them feel as though
they were going backwards. But I don’t feel that way at all. We’ve been away
for many years. We’ve had two kids, grown together as a couple, made some extraordinary
friendships, and it’s simply time to take the next step. Moving back feels like
a brand new adventure. It’s starting over, in a sense, and yet also moving
forward.
I want my kids to grow up in the country, stomping through
creeks and catching fireflies. I want them to grow up surrounded by love from
their grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. I want them to live lives
that are unhurried, unhindered by the chaos that a city life holds. I want to
sit on the front porch with my husband when we’re old, drinking sweet tea and
holding hands.
It sounds so simple, and that’s just who we are. It’s who we
want to be.
Still, I am brimming with so much emotion that I shed tears whenever
I have to tell someone we’re leaving. As excited as I am to embark on this next
leg of The Journey (elated, really), my tender heart so deeply loves the people
and places that have filled my world for the last seven years, and I find
myself more affected than I thought I would be.
This is where I brought my babies home for the first time.
This is where I watched them grow in their earliest, most precious and fleeting
years. I know I’ll look around before we leave and see all the little moments
that are contained in this space, and it will fill my soul with more than I can
even imagine.
I wonder if someday our time here will all feel like a dream,
but I know that even if it does, it has been one beautiful, moving, satisfying
dream. Now it’s simply time to move on to the next one.
