As we sit here in the waiting area at 9 pm at night in O’Hare international airport, I’m not experiencing the typical stresses that most moms feel as they are getting ready to board an overnight flight with three young children. Instead, I feel incredible relief and calmness. The last three weeks have been some of the most emotional of my life. We have been planning this adventure “The Avventura” for almost 5 years and it’s finally here.
It’s been kind of like planning for a big wedding. There are some big decisions to make at the beginning, not much happens in the middle, and then the shit really hits the fan right at the last minute. But in the end, the payoff of all of those plans is fun and life-changing and so worth it.
Three weeks prior, we quit our jobs and sold our house and car, but we were still waiting for our visas. I was on an emotional roller coaster because I had to tell so many of my veterinary clients with whom I’ve had amazing relationships over the years that I was leaving and I would really miss them and their pets, but I was also so excited about my plans with my family. I was so worried about whether we will obtain the visa that I had a constant ball of stress in my stomach. I wasn’t sleeping well at night and mostly was just really tired. I was caught up in the logistics of leaving and not really present in my life.
Two weeks before, I woke up one morning (after 3 hours of sleep) and decided we could no longer wait for the consulate to call us to give us information about our visas. We showed up at the office requesting information. We were told that it was not possible to approve our visas. Panic set in and we started begging and negotiating. Dave was nervous. Dave is NEVER nervous. I freaked out. We had lots of conversations, provided more paperwork and two days later, the visas were approved. I shed tears for the first time in this adventure as we left the office. I cannot explain the relief.
One week out, we had birthday/going-away parties for all three of our children individually (seriously) and we had both sides of grandparents in town to say goodbye. We also started serious preparations to move out. We made the decision to not store anything. We sent a small number of our belongings to Vermont with my parents to store at my brother’s house, but we got rid of a lot of stuff. We only ended up taking about 50% of our belongings with us to Italy. I was shocked at the size of the moving truck. It was a 20-foot container with room to spare. We only took what we really love and need. The experience of figuring out what that is (with 3 children) was in and of itself cleansing.
Then, comes the blissful ending. We moved out of our house and were staying with a dear friend in Chicago for the last 5 days. We spent the mornings, afternoons, and late nights with the people we really love that helped us make Chicago our home for the last 9 years. We ate at every one of our “favorite” places and saw many of our “favorite” people. I shed more tears but enjoyed lots of smiles and hugs. I felt so much love and I know that our family can do this.
So, as we board our plane to Frankfurt and then onto Turin, I feel an incredible sense of calmness and capability. I feel that we have truly accomplished the “hard” part. Making the plan, executing the plan, and then having to say goodbye. What comes next…who knows, but I know it will be an avventura.
The Avventura 