A New Chapter Awaits
After much anxiety, angst, and anticipation, it had arrived. Moving Day. On a clear morning in February 2023, we found ourselves at the Hartsfield Jackson International Airport in Atlanta with twelve pieces of luggage, two Great Pyrenees in the largest crates known to man, a 19-year old cat, and hearts full of hope.
It was a whole production bordering on spectacle. Fellow travelers filming us to share this scene with their friends. My husband and I trying to keep our fur babies calm. Airport porters and Lufthansa staff going above and beyond to get us and our accoutrement checked in and ready for our flight. In the midst of the flurry of activity, I felt like time stood still just for me. A moment to fully appreciate how God answered my prayers and blessed us to begin this new adventure in that place I was soon to call home. Portugal. I said it like it was an invocation, in a reverent whisper, as if it were too fragile a thing to be spoken loudly lest it vaporize while I was standing in the terminal.
After the sleepless nights, seemingly endless months of packing, visa applications, background checks, and dreaming, the time had arrived. We found ourselves on the plane, marveling at how far life has taken us and how many more splendid chapters yet to be written. This Jersey Girl and Bronx Boy, by way of Atlanta, had made another dream a reality. We leaned back in our seats, said a prayer of gratitude, and smiled the entire trip because we knew Portugal was waiting to welcome us to our new home.
