I can say with all certainty that telling our families we were moving to another country for a few years was a one of the hardest things we ever had to do. We were excited for the new adventure, but we were smart enough to know that not everyone would be supportive of our decision.
My parents were torn; excited for this huge opportunity but sad because, well, grandkids. However, no matter how hard it was for my parents to be fully 100% excited for us, they were, are, and will always be supportive. For as long as I can remember, I have had the travel bug and those travel dreams have included traveling to pretty much every country in Europe. The chance to move to Dublin for a few years will provide some amazing travel opportunities; not just for Kevin and I but for our children as well. My mother said to me, “I’m excited for you. Of course, I don’t want you to go but I can’t hold you back either; it’s your dream.” Those were the exact words I needed to hear. I support you, I’ll miss you, follow your dreams. It must be a difficult time in life, when after working so hard to raise our children, we are forced to let them go.
Kevin’s parents were a little more reluctant. They aren’t huge travelers, so it’s harder for them to understand things from our point of view. I can understand where they are coming from though, we are taking away their grandbabies and I know that is killing them inside. In the end, they have accepted our move and give us their best wishes on this journey.
Our last week in America was tough, we tried to spend the final days with our immediate family and a few close friends. I spent a day, with no kids, with my dear friend Kara. We had a nice relaxing day cruising the local Goodwill and Dollar store and then enjoyed a nice, quiet dinner at Red Robin. It was nice to spend some time just the two of us before I left.
The week prior to our departure, Kevin and I went to La Push with members of my family for our annual Peterson/Boyce camping trip. We stayed in a cabin surrounded by family in RVs. The kids had a blast going to the beach every day and playing with their cousins. We had some good quality time with my siblings and cousins. It was a great sendoff of sorts; though at the time we all booked it we had no idea we would be moving to Dublin. I didn’t realize how emotional the goodbyes would be until I said goodbye to my nieces and nephews and started crying. That was awkward.
After our return from La Push, we had a final dinner with the Miller crew. It was a last chance for our kids to play with those cousins and to say goodbye to their uncles, aunt, and grandparents. Saying goodbye to everyone was bittersweet once again and I fought against tears as I gave hugs all around. I will truly miss these big family dinners.
Kevin had some opportunities to say goodbye to his buddies. He shared a few moments with Jeremy and with Tyler. Tyler and the Clem crew are going to be using our Eurovan while we are gone. We both got a chance to say goodbye to Tyler and watch him drive away in our van, which was strange. We also spent our last evening with Wes and his family, going out to eat while we stayed in Seattle for the night before our flight.
The children had to say good-bye to our neighbor and their good friend, Mila’s “best friend”, Haven. We had her over to our house for a few hours on our last day, and for lunch. It was nice having someone Mila’s age right next door to have over for play dates; and they would have been in Kindergarten together. We’ll miss our neighbors.
The hardest good-bye for Kevin, was leaving his son Trenton. That good-bye was definitely a tearful one for everyone. Trenton will be staying in our home, having the time of his life with friends; but he also has a new baby to think about. It was hard to leave him and the new grandbaby, especially during those first years where it can be so hard.
Of course, for me, the hardest goodbye was my parents. We stopped in on our way up to Seattle the night before our flight out. Sadly, our morning had been held up by the movers and we got to Puyallup a lot later than we had hoped, so we only had an hour to visit before driving off into the sunset. Those final moments full of hugs and goodbyes were difficult; I was mostly able to hold back the tears, due to the fact that the reality of the situation hadn’t really sunk in yet.
As hard as it was to say goodbye, the adventure ahead is promising. Now, that we are in Dublin, it is hard to be away, but we have access to several social media outlets, text messaging, instant messaging, and video chats. We have talked to my parents almost every day since we arrived on an Amazon Echo Show, which is a video calling system. Its fun to share our day and adventures with them and they get to see the grandkids, and us, more then we lived in the same vicinity.
All in all, the goodbyes were hard but the adventure ahead is going to be a once in a lifetime opportunity that couldn’t be passed up.
