In early January, the members of my meditation group shared our one-word intentions for 2024. I struggled with a way to express the thoughts that I'd been mulling over since retiring a few years earlier, finally settling on ssomething in the form of "move forward." Eight months later, Michelle Obama gave me those words in her address to the 2024 Democratic convention: "Do something."
The beginning of an idea had begun several years earlier when an Instagram account had caught my attention, pushing these dreams to the forefront. A couple had retired, sold their home and most of their belongings, and began to travel the world staying in Airbnbs, often for months at a time.
It seemed like the perfect plan, although I envisioned a smaller-scale version on domestic land. Convincing my husband to uproot ourselves from the small town where we'd grown up and raised our children, owned two businesses, and enjoyed close friends, was the challenge.
I began dropping hints: buy an RV and travel the US visiting our daughters and siblings along the way; renovate one of the buildings at my brother and sister-in-law's campground and cultural arts center; start a new adventure in a new city, etc. He'd smile and nod; I was frustrated and getting nowhere.
Fate intervened when our daughter became pregnant with twins; the possibility that we might be needed a bit more gave me hope for that new adventure. The babies were born 14 months ago and for the next year, we spent a lot of time driving down and up I-75 to help out. The "good things come to those who wait" moment arrived when my husband returned from his first four days caring for two sick babies by himself while their parents worked mostly from home. He was sick, too, and exhausted.
His first comment was "I see what you mean. We need to be closer to them." And once he was in, he was all in.
So began our big adventure.
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