6 months later......

Six months ago today we got up bright and early and drove away from our home in Clifton Park with everything we had trailing behind us.  We have been so blessed and so fortunate to be able to follow our dream and these past 6 months have far exceeded our expectations.  But no matter where we go or what adventures we find we always seem to come back to the same conversation. ..how many  people in our lives have helped make this all so amazing.  I thought I would take this occasion to recognize some of the people who have made our lives so special.

I have mentioned before, first and foremost, our kids.  They are the ones affected the most by our move, yet they have been so loving and so supportive of what we are doing.  We know that giving up the house that they grew up in was not an easy thing to do, and the fact that they took so many of our “things” and gave them homes has made it so much easier on us.  Without modern technology keeping us in constant contact with them, this life would be entirely different, if not impossible for me.

Besides the kids, we had so many friends and family who supported us and helped us along.  It began early  last summer when our neighbors threw us a surprise going away party…early because they were afraid we would just pick up and go at any time and they wouldn’t get the chance to give us a sendoff.  We were just about to pick up the RV from the dealer and everything was beginning to look like it was “for real”.  As scared as we were, it was so special to be surrounded by the friends we had gained over the  years and to know that their love and support was going with us.  Over the next weeks many of our friends and family came over for a “tour” of the new house.  I told them at the time that it was so special for me, because when we were in new and different places it would give me comfort knowing that each of them had been there to share our house with us at one time.  And six months later, I definitely think about that .. and somehow it makes me feel closer to home.  All the visits, and going away gifts and thoughtfulness lasted right up until the Friday night before we left.  We had gotten rid of almost all of the furniture  in our house, except  for the couch.  Some friends stopped over to help us and when we were done we offered them a drink and sat down on the couch which was sitting on the curb with a “free” sign on it.  Before we knew it, several of our neighbors and friends who drove by stopped in and we had a final farewell party sitting on our sofa on the side of the road.  It will always be one of my favorite memories and it always makes me smile.

I could never name all of the special people who helped us, but there are a few who need to be mentioned.   Cliff’s s Mom, who although our leaving was a huge change in her life, stayed positive and spent as much time with us as possible, helping us get the house ready to sell and the RV ready to move into.  His sister Kathy who flew out from Wisconsin to check out the new rig and do whatever she could to help with our transition. My sister Alice, who with her husband Andrew have been there for us from the beginning - taking us to a dealer in Florida to look at, what would become our new home, for the very first time.  She also knows where we are at every moment and is always so excited to talk about where we are and what we are doing.  Our friend Andrea who flew over from England to spend one more time in Clifton Park with us and who is learning much about the USA by constantly checking on where we are and what we are doing.   Our friends Chris & Karen who were there whenever we needed them and who, very lovingly, tried desperately to talk us out of leaving right up until the last day, and who, today, are still waiting for us to come back from our “vacation.”   Carole & Joe who opened up their house to co-host our going away party, and Diane & Dave, who were also selling their house at the same time and spent countless time sharing stories and information with us, and made us believe…”if they can do it, so can we.” 

 Then there are those people who you just can’t imagine what you would have done without…and we say that constantly to each other.  It seems like every time we said to each other “what are we going to do about…” we would then look at each other and say “Rich”.  Rich & Betsy were there to help us move things, to get rid of things for us and to find homes for some of the things we just couldn’t get rid of.   As many of you know, our “towing” set up was a major issue for us in NY and one of our biggest concerns was getting out of NY without being stopped.  Rich immediately was there to offer a “peace of mind” solution.  He has a flatbed trailer and the day we left he sat by the phone, ready to drive clear across NY state to come and haul our motorcycle for us if we needed him.  A few weeks later, when we had our first “issue” on the road with a punctured motorcycle tire..he was on the phone instantly offering to drive to Ohio with a new tire for us.  Friends like that don’t come around all that often in life, and when they do it opens your eyes as to just how lucky you are.

And then there is Beth & Jim, our neighbors across the street.  They sat for many hours with us in our new home to help us feel comfortable in our new surroundings.  They worked quietly outside in their yard, so we knew they were there if we needed help with anything at all…and came running as soon as we did.  They offered a shoulder to cry on when the times got a little too overwhelming and listened to our craziness when we needed to bounce an idea off of them.  As the time got closer, they gave homes to some of our “homeless” things and now, six months later, they still send us pictures of our things being used.   Late the night before we left we came to the realization that we still had stuff to get rid of and we didn’t know how to do it.  The closing on the house was in a few days and everything had to be gone.  Without a blink of an eye they designated a place for us to leave anything we hadn’t gotten rid of and they said they would come over the next day and deal with it.  It was unbelievable how much weight was taken off of our shoulders at that moment.  But, probably, one of the most amazing things anyone has ever said to us, was that night before we left.  We had packed up everything, hitched up the truck to the RV and were ready to hit the road when we realized we wanted to go and visit Cliff’s Mom one more time but had no way of getting there.  We went across the street, and without hesitation Beth handed over the keys to her precious  car and told us to be on our way.  But when we first walked over to them and said we had a favor to ask them Jim’s reply was “we will do anything we can that will take that scared look out of your eyes.”  That simple statement has stuck with us and always will be a reminder of just how thoughtful and caring our friends are.

Our good fortune in the people we meet has definitely been a part of our new life.  The first place we went in Ohio, we met Jeff & Sheryl, full time RVers who had been travelling for several years.  They stood and talked to us and answered any questions that we had to help put our mind at ease.  They went to their RV and brought us a DVD of Lucille Ball’s movie “The Long, Long Trailer” and told us to go inside, sit and relax and enjoy a few laughs.  We still look back on that night and think about how much fun we had watching the movie like two newlyweds in their first apartment.  And it makes us so grateful that we were parked right next to 2 people who understood exactly what we were feeling and were there to help.  I have mentioned in my blog other people that we have met..Daryl who rescued us on the side of the road with a tire repair kit, and Kim and Christi who watched over our RV the first time that we left it alone.  We have yet to go to any park where we haven’t  met someone who does something kind for us.   All of these”meetings” are short and sweet, but they are constant reminders that the world is full of kind, thoughtful people.

One final story…as we pulled away from our house 6 months ago – we were leaving before dawn and it was still dark out.  It was a very lonely feeling closing that door for the last time and walking out in the silence of the morning.  As I got in the truck I noticed a little movement across the street and took a few steps closer only to find Beth & Jim standing there in their pajamas with their arms around each other watching us.  We of course, ran over and said goodbye one more time..and driving away, instead of feeling lonely, we suddenly felt loved and cared about , and somehow we knew that no matter how far away we got, we would never be alone.  To all of our friends and family who were there to see us off, our Facebook friends who keep constant tabs on us and all of those who are still there constantly reminding us of how lucky we are – we thank you for helping make this first 6 months of our wandering life and times, so amazing, so exciting and so special.