All Good Things...

"We shall not cease from exploration. 

And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive

Where we started and know the place for the first time."

~T.S. Elliot

It's Friday morning. I'm listening to some music and making plans, organizing, packing, and cleaning up my office. I'm sorting out the stuff I will need over the next month and boxing up the things I won't. The studio lights and drop clothes are folded up and stacked in the corner. I gave away a couple of old camera bags last week. I've separated out the power strips and plugs for European voltage from the ones that work with North American circuits. Bank accounts are being closed, kitchen gadgets are being given away, and old broken stuff is getting thrown out.  Our bicycles are clean and oiled, and the cycling gear is sorted back into the boxes in which they arrived. After 3.5 years of living on the quiet banks of the River Main in Lower Franconia (the longest we've ever lived anywhere), it's time to move again.

My husband is being relocated back to Akron, Ohio at the end of July to take a new position at The Company so The Dog, Cats 1 & 2, the bicycles, the cameras, and myself are going back too. We're going back to where we all started, but it's not the same and neither are we.

Five and a half years is a good run. It is almost double the time we were supposed to be on this assignment. We've seen and done far more than we ever hoped to do. We've met some amazing people who changed our lives. They will be friends we'll love forever, no distance or amount of time will change that. We've seen countless incredible views. We've had some incredible meals. My husband has become nearly fluent in German. I can read, speak, and understand a little French when I have to. We've gone to a few European bike races. We've visited 20 countries. We know Paris almost as well as we know Akron. We've learned more than I could ever put into words. The world we understand now is not the world we thought we understood before.

I can confidently say I will never live in a place as beautiful as this river bank for the rest of my life. I will be forever grateful that I had the chance. Every single day that we've lived in Europe, even the days that absolutely sucked, were a gift we wouldn't trade for anything.

But, it's time to say goodbye. It's time to go home. And, we're ready.

Five and a half years is a long time. I used to say, "Home is where your stuff is." As time has passed though, I realized that home really is where your heart is, and that's usually where your people are. We've really been missing our people- family and friends. Every time we go back to Akron for a visit, that feeling has been stronger and stronger. I won't deny that I was looking forward to getting out of Akron for a while when we moved to Luxembourg in 2011. I'm so glad I did, because in addition to all the things we got to experience over here, now I have a much deeper appreciation for my hometown. As it worked out, a lot of things that frustrated us before are either gone, fixed, or are being improved. And, the veil has been lifted from the things that have always made Akron a wonderful place to live. We see where we're from with new eyes. So, now we look forward to returning, settling down and living in a house longer than we've lived anywhere before. Sure, it's not Paris, or a sleepy German village, or the Alps, or County Kerry, or sunny Portugal, but Akron is home and it's the place this road was meant to end, the final destination.

So, for the next seven weeks things are going to be pretty insane around here. At least this isn't the first time we've done an international move. We have one final photo trip to make- the Swiss Alps where I will hopefully get a few good final shots from Europe. Shortly afterwards we'll pack up all my camera gear and The Dog and fly to the US for the first round of moving. We'll be there for a week getting things in order like cell phone contracts and hopefully getting the keys to a house we've been in the process of purchasing since we were in Akron last month. The Dog is going to hang out with some long suffering family members while we return to Germany for a few more weeks to oversee the packing of the rest of our earthly belongings and tie up any loose ends. Then, on the final weekend of July we, Cats 1 & 2, and four suitcases will fly back to the United States for good. The journey will be over.

And, then the next one will begin.

We're really excited to start the next chapter. My husband is thrilled to start a new job that will be taking full advantage of his personal skills and his unique work experience of the past 5.5 years. I have about 3 dozen photo projects I've been looking forward to starting once we're back in the States. We're super excited to be moving into a house of our own in the heart of the city we love. While I cannot speak for them entirely, I think the cats are looking forward to a time of life that involves lounging in windows with bug screens and the promise they will never have to stay at a cattery again. The Dog can't wait to have a proper yard. I'm looking forward to being able to do all our laundry in one day instead of an entire week. I'm not going to lie to ya, I'm also looking forward to having a car again. You can only photograph so much from the bicycle. It will also be a relief to no longer be local curiosities, to be able to understand what's going on (well, to a point anyway), and to be a part of a community again.

Are we going to miss jumping on the train to go to Paris for the weekend or driving down to the Alps for a little hiking? You betcha. But, there was a time in our lives that those things were normal and that's more than I ever could have asked for. A dream has been lived and now we'll carry it with us for the rest of our lives.

All good things come to an end, and that's part of what makes them good.