After many months of planning and thinking about how far away April 22 felt, it finally arrived. The week leading up to it was more chaotic and emotional than I expected. We pulled some late nights clearing out the whole house to leave it spic and span for our new tenants. We were too stubborn and cheap to hire movers or cleaners so by the end of the week we were wiped out. As always I thought “that’s the last time I’ll ever move without hiring professional help” while deep down knowing we’ll do it again someday.

We said lots of goodbyes, often multiple times to the same people. A year is a weird amount of time to say goodbye for. I found myself downplaying it a lot by saying “see you in a year” and “we’ll be back before you know it” but I know a lot can happen in a year. After Millie’s last-day-of-school ceremony, her best friend came out in tears to give her one last hug and I was reminded that a year is a lot in their short little lives. They only have a few of them under their belts as context. I still can’t tell what she is able to process around how long we plan to be gone.

After our beds were in storage we moved in with my parents. Millie soaked up the grandparent attention—helping in the garden, swimming, being served snacks like a tiny queen, and garnering admiration for simply existing. This time together before our departure made me reflect on how lucky we’ve to see them so often. I prematurely miss them.

We spent this morning packing our bags and fighting the “there must be something we’re forgetting” feeling. Nick reminded me that we have been packing and repacking for two months now. We’ve never been more prepared for a trip. 

As my parents were dropping us off at the airport my mom caught me tearing up. Her motherly instincts for how I’m doing are still going strong almost 40 years on. We breezed through security and shared an overpriced and under-seasoned chicken sandwich. Overall the day felt quite unremarkable, despite being the kickoff to likely the most memorable year of our lives. 

We are somewhere over the Atlantic now where Millie is upholding her lifelong record of refusing to sleep on a plane. Nick on the other hand is in a deep slumber thanks to his Face Bra (softly padded cups for each eye). The only brief moment of drama so far was millie kicking over a cup of milk and me yelping “fuck!” slightly too loud while everyone around us attempted to sleep.

I’ve been thinking about how often I should post updates here, and I’m going to ambitiously aim for daily. I’m going more for quantity over quality. I know the details are what I’m going to want to look back on, and I know my short term memory lasts no more than 24 hours. I may batch posts at a delay to throw off any stalkers, creeps, and weirdos. So if you’re a subscriber, sorry in advance for the spam.